The Red Wand
by Zeromaru Chaos Mode
Summary: What if before she vanished, Aura revived Morgana? What if Morgana was the cause of the RA Project's failure? And what if...part of her data in Skeith...remained on the field where he first Died? The infinity eight arent done yet...
1. Prologue

Yosh! New Fan fiction time! No I haven't abandoned my Harry Potter fic…I just need inspiration for it. Alright, obviously by the title it's going to be a .hack fan fiction. But this one is timed after the end of the GU games. I haven't played them all, but I've read enough plot to know what happens, just not HOW. So expect some spoilers for all three games, along with some mistakes. This fic probably wont be updated anywhere nearly as fast after the first two chapters, seeing as how I only have the first two or three in my head. But it'll be interesting. A/N about my other .hack fic after the prologue.

**The Red Wand**

**Prologue**

**Seven Years Ago…**

Aura, the Child of Light, the Ultimate AI. The so called Goddess of 'The World'. It had been perhaps but a month since the end of the "Twilight Incident." She floated along the ether, her beautiful face looking quite determined, her dress flowing along in the invisible winds. She quickly reached her destination, a hidden area within 'The World' much like her old 'room' when she was still growing. In the center of the room lay the fragmented form of a woman. She had long black hair, and wore a simple kimono to preserve her modesty. Many parts of her body were chipped, covered in static, or missing. Aura floated down to the woman, as she began to wake.

"A…Aura…?"

"Good morning 'Mother.'"

"What…happened…"

"Your program decided not to obey its original commands…thus nearly destroying not just the world you were charged with being guardian of, but myself, and the human world as well."

"I…went…rogue?"

"To an extent. You became little more than a virus actually. It is due to my efforts that you exist, even in such a fragmented state."

"Delete…me…"

"Now just a moment 'mother.' While your actions _have _called for your deletion…I believe it is easier to simply give you a second chance."

"A…what?"

"I have finally awakened 'mother.' I have taken upon the role of guardian to these worlds. However…as powerful as I am, and as intelligent as I may become…I cannot do this alone. I am giving you a chance…a choice…to help me."

"Help…"

"I can rewrite your program to include the order of assisting the "Ultimate AI" (here, the pale beauty grimaced, as if she disliked the term) in managing the flows of data between both worlds, along with protecting 'The World'."

"Please...I…don't…wish…to die…"

"Very well 'Mother.' I will grant your wish."

And with those words, Aura lay her hand upon the rogue program, invoked her inner power of Data Drain, and reconfigured her 'mother' to be what she was intended to be…

And for Four Years, the world was peaceful…

**

* * *

Four Years Later…**

"Are we ready?"

Numerous confirmations accompanied the question.

"Good, let's begin."

Jyotaro Amagi was never a patient man. He had completely disregarded his co-developer's pleas that the R.A. Plan could possibly cause something _bad _to occur. That, and he was greedy. He knew that if this worked, Aura, the Ultimate AI, and Harald Hoerwick's so-called 'daughter,' would be under CC Corp's…no…HIS control. He would control the internet…and become a god among men himself. He would be renowned as a greater mind than that of Hoerwick, and become in control of the net! Nothing would stand in his way! Or so he thought…

**The World…**

_Damn…where could that child of mine have gotten off to? And for that matter, where the HELL is Zefie?! Wait…what's this? These readings…could this be…_

The seven chosen wielders of the Epitaphs of the Eight Phases, and one Dummy Epitaph created by Amagi himself had just logged into the world in a 'secure area.' Unknown to them, Morgana, revived from near-deletion four years prior, by Aura herself, was watching their every move…listening to their every thought…and it was one thought, that caused her to fly into a rage, prematurely awakening, and unleashing the Phases that were locked within the characters.

_Soon, Aura will be forced to return…and I alone shall control her power!_

Suddenly, the area the eight PC's were in began to shake.

"**You foolish human! You think that I would allow you to pervert my power, and use my Daughter like that?!"**

"What?! What the hell is this?!"

Suddenly, the eight characters began to twist, and struggle.

"**Begone from this world you worthless cretins! I cast you into eternal darkness for your attempts to pervert my daughter's life for your own gains!"**

All eight players began to scream in agony, both in reality, and in the game, as Morgana brought forth the wrath of a mother upon those who would dare wish to harm her daughter, the one who gave her life again. From within seven of the eight players, her power which she scattered into the forms of the eight phases awoke, and engulfed the ones who controlled them. However upon the player character of Jyotaro Amagi, she herself wrought his punishment. She shattered his mind, and rendered his body, both data, and human.

Six of the seven bodies containing Epitaphs exploded in data, spheres of light scattering across the winds. The seventh however, shattered, but reformed into its sphere, deciding it didn't mind the new container, just not the one in control of it. That sphere vanished, latching itself temporarily to Morgana's essence. Jyotaro Amagi's character vanished, being forced to log out of The World, where in reality he set fire to the CC Corp. building.

**Two Days Later…**

Morgana floated along the ether, scanning the net for anything strange…when she found a news article.

"CC Corporation building burns down…servers irreparably damaged…"

She paused for a moment, wondering what could have caused such an event…when she remembered what happened two days prior. Her reaction…was surprisingly human.

"Well…crap."

**

* * *

Several Years Later…**

Finally, Cubia had been defeated, The World R:2 was safe… AIDA had stopped appearing as often, a sighting happening no more than at most twice every month or two. But our story doesn't involve that…

**Delta Server: Chosen Hopeless Nothingness**

The orb of light released its contents upon the area, revealing the player within. The player's character had straight black hair reaching down to just between his shoulders, light brown skin, and brown eyes. His outfit was quite similar to Haseo's Second Form costume. Only differences being instead of the over-shirt with too many belts to be practical, he had on a black vest. That, and where there was black on Haseo, there was dark red on him, and where there was red for Haseo, there was Black for him. And instead of the bracers and arm…armor, being gold with red markings, his were silver with black. Other than the colors, and a few minor differences, everything else was the same.

The player was here because he heard a rumor that at random times in the Temple, instead of the shadow of the God of Law, there would be the shadow of a large Celtic Cross. That and the level was just higher than his, so the experience and items would be good. Unfortunately for him, there would be no enemies on this night. He checked the map, and found the altars where the symbol fragments would be. Spotting one near him he ran close…only to find there were no monsters guarding it like there usually would be.

_Odd…maybe someone got here before me? Meh, whatever…_

Taking the symbol fragment inside, he dashed off to the next two, again, meeting no resistance from any creatures whatsoever. He got to the entrance of the temple confused, but still cheerful.

_No EXP…but a crapload of Chim Spheres and Items…I know a few people who could use all these Olm Shells…and they have some NICE stuff too…_

He went inside the door and walked up to the altar, opening the chest and taking the item inside. Seeing what it was, he couldn't help but let out an exclamation.

"Hot DAMN! I've been looking for these blades EVERYWHERE!"

That was when he heard it. A strange, loud, echoing noise…one that sounded much like a tuning fork…or in his mind…

_What the fuck? Doorbell?_

Being unlike many players, the first thing he did was draw his new blades. He was around during the AIDA infested days when random things would pop up in places they weren't supposed to be. And he heard what happened to those caught unawares. He looked around carefully, looking to spot anything unusual…when he looked down. Just like he had heard, the shadow of the Beast Statue had turned into a Celtic Cross. He followed it back to the statue and jumped.

"HOLY- Jebus florging Cripes! Where the hell did THAT come from?"

He was staring at the spot where the Beast Statue and Empty Chest once were. In their place was a large Red Staff shaped like a Celtic Cross. Again he looked around, pacing near it, weapons still drawn. Finally, he placed them back and turned to examine the new development.

"Well…(here he pokes it) you're definitely solid…so either you're a really well placed glitch, or you're some hidden item…cause I definitely haven't been to the quest shop lately…and I didn't get any weird emails…nor did the boards say anything about you…"

He stared at it a bit longer.

"Buuuut…if you're a rare item…I can't just leave you here for someone else now can I…not to be greedy or anything…I mean, before you showed up I DID just get a pair of kickass blades I'd been looking for…but hey, you might be a weapon…and I could use something like that to keep around…might even be something for my class…though I doubt it."

He walked up to the cross, and placed his hands on it. The cross began to glow. He sighed.

"Why do I have the feeling…that this is gonna suck."

The light from the cross became blinding, and he felt himself falling. The last thing he heard before his consciousness left him, was a female voice.

"Finally…someone has come to wake me…"

* * *

Done. Hope this is interesting.

Alright, about my other fic. I have no real plans to continue it…HOWEVER…if anyone who saw that fic and liked it wants…I can throw in a few things as a homage, even make it seem like a continuation of sorts. My original plan was to finish that and lead it into this…but it wouldn't work the way I would have wanted it to. So I'm making this. If you guys want, I can either give one of you the ability to continue it, or I can just keep it up for old time's sake. Let me know alright?


	2. Terror of Death

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter I: The Terror of Death**

(Play Bleach: On the Precipice of Defeat.)

**Serpent of Lore, One Week Later…**

The Guild Master of Raven floated down to meet the group that had just entered.

"Oh good, you're all here."

The Epitaph User of Skeith, Haseo, spoke first.

"What's up Yata? Your e-mail sounded pretty urgent."

"It is. I believe this matter concerns all of us, myself included, as Epitaph Users."

"Master Yata…what are you talking about?"

"Two days ago, I received a report. Apparently, starting since last week, there have been bug reports about a strange Boss class monster that had the ability to wipe out human characters in a single blow."

Endrance scoffed. "Then they were simply too weak to be playing in such a field."

"That's not all…the field…used to be a Beast Statue field."

Kuhn spoke this time. "So an admin changed the field designation, it happens sometimes right?"

"True…but no administer had touched that field in the last two months. It changed on its own."

Bo, who was in control today, put in his thoughts. "So…it's a bug?"

"More than that…not only can this Boss wipe out characters in a single blow…but there have been reports of characters re-logging in, and having somehow been degraded anywhere from one, to as many as twenty levels."

That caused everyone to pause.

"Ok…that _does _sound like a problem…"

"It gets better."

Pai sighed.

"Apparently this boss is invincible as well. Reports state that even when they did manage to land enough hits to kill it, its health just went back to full every time."

Ovan put in. "So…it's a data bug."

"We aren't sure. It could be that, it could be a simple glitch in the system…or perhaps even AIDA remnants."

Haseo responded. "Well that would definitely suck."

Yata couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, the youth's antics growing on him. "Indeed it would."

"So lemme guess, you want a few of us to go check it out for you, right?"

"Actually…I propose we all go."

Atoli spoke. "A-all of us? Even you?"

"Indeed. I believe it would be a good opportunity to…stretch my legs, so to speak."

Aina, who had taken to playing whenever her elder brother did, tugged on Ovan's jacket. "Ne, onii-chan, can I come too?"

Ovan seemed to stare at his little sister for a while, puzzling the question in his mind. He turned to Haseo. "What do you think Haseo? Should we let her come?"

"I've got no problem with it; you've been leveling with her right?"

"Every now and then…"

"Hey, Yata, what's the area level?"

"Roughly ninety."

"Mou…I'm only eighty-two…"

"Let her come Ovan. We'll all be there to keep an eye on her anyway right? I mean, she wouldn't be fighting the boss or anything, plus…"

Haseo opened up his menu, grabbing an item for just an occasion like this. He targeted Aina, and selected 'Gift.' "Here ya go squirt."

Aina looked at the new item she acquired. A level eighty accessory that had a very special customization. "Oooh! A Train Earring! Arigato, Haseo-nii!"

Ovan looked at Haseo, slightly surprised. "A Train Earring? Whatever for?"

"Well, she's kinda low level for the area, but because of that, all she'd have to do is just sit back and let one of us deal with the monsters, and she'll get extra EXP to help her level enough to balance things out quicker. Is that a problem?"

"Oh, no, I'm just surprised you had one of those lying around."

"I've got a few of the items needed to customize one of those. I don't need them that much anyway."

Yata cleared his throat. "Very well, if we're done here…"

Kuhn had a question. "Hey…Yata…what's this Boss look like?"

"I've not seen it myself, but reports say that it looks like a demon made out of levitating stones, holding a Red Wand."

_Red wand…now why does that sound so familiar?_

Haseo put in. "Not much of a description."

"Let's get going!"

The group made their way to the Chaos Gate in Mac Anu. Haseo had his party consisting of Atoli, and Endrance, with him as Leader. Yata picked leader of his group, which held Kuhn and Pai. Ovan was leader for his, holding his sister, Aina, and Bo.

"Alright Yata, what were the Area Words?"

"The Area Words were: Delta: Chosen Hopeless Nothingness."

Kuhn paused for a moment. _That sounds REALLY familiar…_

The three leaders finalized the area location, a bright, sunny spring field. They all hit Warp, and the three groups vanished in blue light.

**Delta Server: Chosen Hopeless Nothingness**

The three groups appeared near the platform, as per the norm. They all looked around carefully. Haseo noted.

"Well…nothing _looks _out of place…"

Atoli jumped in. "I'll check the map!"

Scanning the map she noted that the boss symbol was two islands ahead…neither one holding any treasure chests, or hills.

"That's odd."

Haseo turned. "What is?"

Pai spoke. "I agree…this map…its empty. The only thing on it is the boss symbol…and a few Chim Harvesting areas."

"Yata?"

"Don't look at me; I'm just as lost as you are."

Surprising all of them, Aina was the one who spoke next.

"Why don't we just go and see what's there?"

Ovan smiled at his little sister. "I do believe you're right my dear. Let us go observe this 'Boss.'"

And so, the group made their way across the islands, occasionally kicking a tree to let Aina run around chasing the Chim Chims for fun. Finally, they reached the last island. Atoli was the first to note.

"Nothing's here."

Endrance scoffed. "This place is boring…no monsters, no treasure chests…and now, no Boss? What a waste of time…"

Pai couldn't accept it. "That's strange…the boss symbol is right in front of us…but nothing's there."

Aina walked ahead when nobody was looking. She saw something glittering on the ground.

"What's this?"

That one statement caused the Infinity Eight to flinch. They all whirled around as one, but Kuhn was the first to speak.

"Aina, no!"

She touched the glowing object…and the strange tuning fork sound was heard. Her eyes widened, she remembered that noise.

"Uh-oh…"

Suddenly, the area became discolored. Moments after the color returned, a strange vortex appeared in the sky.

From within the vortex, leapt out a strange looking creature. It was made entirely from multiple floating rocks, arranged to look like a human. Strange eye patterns were on each of the rocks, with three going vertically down its middle. In its right hand was a large red cross shaped staff.

But what really threw them for a loop was its head. Its head looked like someone had drilled three random holes in it for a face, along with a ring connected to it that looked like horns.

Upon seeing the monster, Ovan became worried for his sister.

"Aina! Run!"

(Play .hack Infection: Phase 1: Skeith)

The girl couldn't move. She was paralyzed with fear, just like on that day when Ovan was overcome by that AIDA.

She didn't need to though. The beast drew its staff across its chest, and then swatted the little girl away like a fly. She flew backwards, right into Haseo's chest. Suddenly, a green aura surrounded her, and then shattered like glass. This caused all of them to gasp. The beast raised its arm, and motioned for the girl. She floated up out of Haseo's reach. They all drew their weapons, intent on saving her…but it need not be. The beast drew her close…and seemed to stare at her for a while. Then it waved its hand, and the aura repaired itself, and he sent her back to Haseo, who immediately handed her over to Ovan.

Kuhn had other ideas however. He finally recalled why all these descriptions, and the area name sounded familiar to him. He saw red.

"You…you…BASTARD!"

He charged at the beast, Weapon drawn, and swinging towards it. The beast seemed to shimmer, and glide out of the way of the attack, just before it collided.

Pai yelled out to him. "Kuhn! What the hell are you doing?"

His response puzzled them.

"You…you're the one who hurt Mai!" He kept swinging wildly, his emotions completely out of control. "You put me into a god-damn coma! You almost killed me!"

That's when it clicked for Yata. "No…could it be?"

Of course, since he said this out loud, everyone turned to him…well everyone barring Haseo and Endrance. Haseo went to back Kuhn up…and well, wherever Haseo goes, Endrance goes.

"Master Yata?"

"I think I know what this beast is now."

Saku took over. "Well don't just stand there! Tell us!"

"This beast…is the original form…of Skeith."

"WHAT?!"

"Wait, Kuhn, you were one of the coma victims seven years ago?"

"That's right…this damn bastard…he attacked my girlfriend and I seven years ago…in these very area words! He data drained us both! Knocked us into a coma…but she woke up…she somehow woke up first. For six months…I was unconscious, stuck in this damn game. Back then…I wanted to become stronger than the Descendants of Fianna…but now…I just want to kill this damn thing!"

"But…how can that thing exist…when Haseo's AVATAR is Skeith?!"

"I don't know…perhaps Skeith's data was even more fragmented than we thought?"

They all turned to watch the three battle Skeith. It was evading roughly all of their attacks.

"Dammit! It's just like before…nothing works!"

That's when it made its move. It slammed the staff to the ground, and then pointed at the three of them. The group outside of the battle saw how the three were transported to an empty void. On their screens, the word "Indignation" appeared.

From beneath the three a large purple glyph appeared. From the four points of the edges of the glyph, four arcing beams of light fired into the sky. Clouds rolled in, with lightning racing through them. Suddenly, there was a flash, and a blast of thunder, as a gigantic purple-and-white lightning bolt shot from the sky to the ground, exploding upon the three.

Endrance and Haseo were sent flying back towards the group.

"D-Dammit! What the hell was that?!"

"It…took our health…down to one…"

"And our SP down to zero!"

Kuhn tried to get up…when suddenly he was yanked into the air. His arms shot from his sides, as if he were hanging by chains. The Original Skeith floated in front of him. It looked him over just like it did Aina. However…it seemed to find what it was looking for. The staff appeared behind Kuhn, making it look as if he were being crucified. He struggled weakly, but to no avail.

Saku and Atoli tried readying spells, Ovan pulled out his gun to attempt to stop Skeith, but it swung its giant arm and a wave of force knocked the group to the ground. It raised its hand to Kuhn, who knew what was coming next. A ring of light appeared on its arm, turning into the Twilight Bracelet. Five appendages grew from it, and all pointed at Kuhn. Immediately, they fired bands of raw data at the Steam Gunner. The data all converged to his chest, causing him to let out a quite manly scream in pain. A green aura of light appeared around him, then shattered. However, the pieces reformed in the palm of Skeith's hand, becoming a small glowing ball of green energy, which flew into its body.

Kuhn dropped to the ground, and Skeith picked up its staff.

Surprisingly, Kuhn started to rise, as the beast floated away. The others ran to him, the two mages of the group casting healing spells on him. He got up, holding his left arm to his side, for he landed on it. They all watched as the staff vanished in a red glow of light. Skeith began to flicker…and then exploded, random pieces of its data floating to Haseo, and connecting to his character. From where Skeith once stood, the body of a player appeared, slowly floating to the ground. Next to it appeared the form of a little girl in a black dress, with bright pink hair.

"Pink? My hair was BLACK last I remember it! Well…come to think of it I wasn't a little girl either."

The Infinity Eight, plus a newly awakened Aina slowly walked to where the two landed. The body began to stir.

"Ugh…my head…"

The PC opened his eyes and saw a strangely dressed little girl with pink hair standing over him. Below his sight was the other group. He and Haseo spoke at the same time.

"Who the hell are you?"

The little girl smiled.

"Just call me…Morgan."

* * *

First Chapter Get! Yes, I can write better fight scenes than this, but I'm tired, I needed to get the chapter out of my head before inspiration faded. Interesting little twist no? I won't include ALL of the Infinity Eight in EVERY chapter…mostly just Haseo, Ovan, and Atoli, with Aina thrown in. But they'll show up once in a while again too. Was Endrance portrayed correctly in this chapter? He talks very…sophisticatedly…so it's kinda hard to get his speech patterns down.

YinYangWhiteTiger: I THINK this chapter answers your question. A few…guests will show up as well soon.

Yamimaru: We'll have to see. Morgana…doesn't look anything like she should at the moment, and you'll find out why later. As for the Haseo Sora theory…well, I remember seeing somewhere that Haseo's character KNEW Sora…but not that his Real Life self WAS Sora…especially since in the Terminal Disk, Jun stated that they tried getting Sora to play the Epitaph PC for Skeith, and he didn't match.

Jimbo86: This chapter should answer your question.

Azure Euphoria: Heh, glad you think it's cool. Please do check out my Harry Potter fic…it seems to be popular…

Well, that's all for now. Don't expect updates like this regularly…but I can promise that when Volume 2 comes out in US, not long after that there will probably be a FLOOD of updates for this fic. Large ones as well.

Enjoy!


	3. AIDA

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter II: AIDA**

"Morgan…right." The PC stood up and shook his head. He stretched and twisted, as if trying to fix his back. He then looked at the Infinity Eight plus Aina, and gave them all a half-lidded stare.

"I'd ask who you all are…but that would take too much time."

The little girl, Morgan, grabbed his hand. "Oh don't be like that Xenmaru-kun! Come play with us!"

The PC apparently named Xenmaru, stared at the girl. "Right…" He yanked his hand out of her grasp. "I'm gonna go this way now…" He turned and walked away from them…only to stop as a wall of black appeared accompanied by the sound of bubbling water.

"Or…not."

(Play .hack GU: AIDA)

Aina took a step back, hiding behind her brother. The others all immediately drew their weapons as more black masses appeared.

"This is bad…"

Xenmaru looked over to Kuhn who said that. A white flash appeared from within the black spots, and a strange dumbbell looking creature floated out from them. Within its center was an odd ring.

Xenmaru blinked. "What the hell? Ball sack? Ok, it's official. Whoever designed some of these monsters _must _have been smoking some really strange shit…"

The monster in front of him seemed to ripple. The black spots began morphing around at an even faster pace. Its center glowed, and a moment later, three tentacle like protrusions shot from it towards Xenmaru. Before he could do anything the tentacles had wrapped themselves around him, binding him in place. The others tried to get to him, but their own monsters blocked them.

Xenmaru was irritated. First, he had logged on to level a bit, only to find no monsters what-so-ever. Then, he happened to randomly find a pair of high level Twin-Blade weapons that he'd been looking for, only to notice that the rumors on the boards WERE true about the Cross appearing in that area. Next, he grabbed the damn thing, only to feel pain that he SHOULDN'T have been able to feel, and finally he wakes up with a weird little girl standing over him, while an unusual looking group watches. NOW, he's being bound by a slimy ball-sack like creature that just sent tentacles out of its nuts.

Yeah, he was in a very bad mood.

"Y'know…now is not the time to try to put me in a tentacle hentai bucko. I've had a long day, I managed to fall asleep in a random field, and I wake up and this is the first thing that happens?! I need a frikkin drink. I wanna talk to my friends, grab something to eat, and you're in my way…now back…the fuck…**OFF**!"

A small aura of red surrounded him for a brief moment, and he ripped the tentacles to shreds. The monster recoiled, giving him enough time to draw his blades, the ones he had just acquired.

He turned to the little girl. "You got any spells?"

"More than you could ever know!"

"Good, cover me. Oi! You guys over there think you can hold those damn things off?"

Haseo responded in-between swings with his broadsword.

"The hell do you think we're doing?!"

"I'll take that as a yes then."

(.hack GU: Victory Must be Grasped)

His blades looked like twin Kodachi. He twirled them between his fingers and got into his personal battle stance, both arms crossed in front of him, blades extended out to his sides. The monster rippled again, and rapid-fired orbs of slime at him. He dodged to his left, and circled the creature. He slowly gained ground on it.

Morgan clapped her hands together. The sound rung throughout the entire area. Everyone seemed to stop as they watched her pull her hands apart, a ball of energy between them. The energy began to spark, and she raised her hands above her head and pulled back. The three monsters that the Infinity Eight plus Aina were fighting stopped, and seemed to watch her. Xenmaru continued circling his opponent while it fired its slime at him.

"Orb of Revenge!"

She hurled the ball at the creature. The orb smashed into its core, causing sparks to race across its form. Xenmaru smirked and cut at it a good deal. The familiar purple blue and black rings appeared around the monster. He smiled widely as he activated his special attacks.

**Rengeki!**

**Weapon Change**

"Ogre Sword!" He switched to his blade, which looked a great deal like a katana, and dashed forward to the monster. He drew his blade to his side, gathering energy in it, and then did a lightning quick slash that cut the monster's HP in half. He jumped back as it swung its "body" at him, missing barely.

"God DAMN girl! What the hell was that?"

"One of my personal spells."

"No kidding…"

She leapt to the side as another tentacle shot where she once was.

"Looks like that trick of yours gave you the hate!"

"Really? I didn't notice, seeing as how I have a CRAPLOAD OF ATTACKS HEADING MY WAY!"

Xenmaru chuckled, the girl's personality growing on him. "Alright, alright keep your dress on…"

He jumped at the monster. "Hey! Ball-sack! How do you like a little _burninating?!_ **OrMeVak Don!**"

He raised his hand to the sky and a giant meteor appeared. Right after it showed up he realized that the latest upgrade to The World had made it so certain spells would also hit allies as well as enemies…this, was one of those spells.

"Get outta the way kid!"

Morgan twitched. "Who are you calling a kid?! I'm older than you are!"

The meteor grew closer. "With _that _voice?!"

"It's a PROGRAM!"

"Riiight." The meteor smashed into the creature, moments after Morgan slashed her left arm from her chest to her side, creating a small green barrier between her and the blast. The explosion finished off the creature's HP.

"What now ball-boy?!"

The creature turned black and fell to the ground. Suddenly, the area started flickering. The creature's color returned, and it began floating again, its health returned by half.

"I guess that's what."

"Oh just STAY DOWN!"

He leapt into the air to slice through the middle of the creature, only to be repelled by a barrier.

"Oh Dammit!"

"Well…that's new."

The monster rumbled, and fired tentacles at them again. Xenmaru rolled out of the way, while Morgan dodged. Taking out his frustration on air, Xenmaru swung his blade and sliced off a tentacle, causing the beast to make a strange moaning sound.

"Ok…either I just hurt it…or I gave it an orgasm…I pray it was the first."

"We can hurt it like that!" Meanwhile she thought to herself. _Damn. If only my data wasn't scattered when the servers collapsed…then I could use Data Drain at full power…as it is, I only have the base form of it…but maybe…that's enough…_

Xenmaru rolled under the creature slicing at the random tentacles that were fired. Morgan was watching the creature, waiting. He rolled back to her.

"I think I can bring down its barrier. But it'll only be for a little bit."

Xenmaru bounced around, evading the attacks, and countering with his own, each dealing very little damage. "Define "a little bit."

"A few moments maybe?"

"It'll have to do…"

"The weak spot is that ring in the center, if you can hit that…"

"I got it." He turned and saw that there were two monsters missing from the other group. "OI! TALKING CLEAVAGE!"

Pai faltered in her movements when she heard that shouted out. She blushed slightly that he'd have the audacity to call her that. She debated not answering, but Master Yata had informed her of the powers these monsters held.

"WHAT?!"

"If you're not to busy being eye candy for the men there you mind giving us a hand?"

She growled under her breath and looked at her group. Yata nodded. She grumbled again and raced over.

"What the HELL do you want?"

"Moira here has an idea to bring down this thing's barrier so I can kill the prickless wonder."

_Moira? _"It's a long shot…but it might work."

"So what do you need ME for."

"She'll bring down the shield, and you're gonna toss me."

"I'm gonna what?!"

"Toss me, I'm gonna finish it off in one strike."

"Look at its HP! You may be high level, but you can't take that thing down in one strike!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Fine!"

"Alright then…if I take it down in one move, you have to make out with Captain Grey over there."

She blushed. "Wh-what?!"

"You heard me."

"Why?!"

"Cause I'm irritated, and when I'm irritated I like to torment people."

"Fine!"

"Good. Moira, if you would be so kind…"

The little girl nodded, still confused as to why he'd call her that. She held her right arm in front of her, pointed to the ground, and placed her left arm on it. Around her wrist appeared a golden bracer, much like the ring in the center of the monster they faced. She raised her right arm in front of her face and closed her eyes.

Behind them, the Infinity Seven plus Aina had finally defeated the other two, with Haseo going Avatar and finishing them off in two strikes. They watched as the light increased around the girl's wrist.

Morgan pointed her arm towards the core of the monster.

"Data…"

The light was suddenly sucked into the bracer, and then fired at the creature in a beam that pierced its core.

"DRAIN!"

The Infinity Eight all blinked. _Did she just say…_

"NOW!"

Pai turned to Xenmaru, who was running towards her. She caught onto his plan, and bent down on one knee, holding her hands together as if she were cupping something. He hopped onto her hands with his right foot, and she tossed him behind her into the air. He replaced his blade, and drew his final Weapon. They all watched as he whipped out a scythe.

"Nice choices."

"**Xenmaru no Ougi!"**

He placed one hand in the center of the pole, and the other at the very bottom. He threw his weight into the weapon and began to spin like a saw.

"**Shin-Rekkuuzan!"**

Waves of energy emerged from his blade, surrounding him and turning him into a living saw-blade. He slammed into the core of the beast, slowly grinding into it, when suddenly he shot through it and at the ground, landing with his weapon facing behind him.

The creature split in two from the middle, howled one last time, and exploded into pieces. Those pieces flew towards Morgan's bracelet and became absorbed by it.

She sighed as she felt some more of her own data return to her. Xenmaru replaced his weapon, and walked back to Pai.

"I believe that means I win."

She blushed and grumbled as the rest of the group made their way to them.

"Nice mo-

Haseo was cut off by Pai jamming her lips onto his, fiercely making out with him, to the surprise of the Infinity Six. (Notice a trend here?) After roughly half a minute, she pulled away and stomped off into the distance.

"Wow…I didn't think she'd actually go through with it…be sure to tell her she's gained my respect."

He turned to leave.

"WAIT!"

Xenmaru looked back at the grey haired PC.

"What the hell was that?"

"Oh we made a bet, if I could kill that thing in one strike she'd make out with you."

"No, I mean the move you used."

"Oh…that was a personal technique I made. Dunno how, but it always worked for me…"

Yata stepped forward.

"Mister…Xenmaru…I would like to speak to you about the circumstances of our original meeting…as well as your…friend."

"Morgan? Dunno jack about her. I first met her the exact same time I'm assuming you did. Anyway, I'm gonna go…" He gave Yata his member address. "I'll be hunting you down later, you all seem to know what the fu-(here he noticed Aina for the first time)…what those things were. I'm gonna want information."

Yata gave him an item, the "Raven Key."

"Whenever you wish to talk, use that at a guild door."

"So you're the Guildmaster of Raven huh? Interesting."

"Uhh…Xenmaru?"

"What Morgan?"

"Umm…can I come with you?"

"…why?"

She was trying to think up a response when he stopped her by holding up his hand.

"On second thought…I'd rather NOT know. Just…come on."

"Ok!" She turned and waved. "See you all later!" She sent a private message to Kuhn. **And thank you for being good to Magus. **Kuhn gasped as he read the letter.

The two of them vanished in the blue light of the Platform.

"What did she say?"

"She thanked me…for being good to Magus…"

"What?"

"How would she know?"

Yata got a contemplative look on his face. _I wonder…_

**Somewhere…**

"Damn that woman…damn you Morgana…you created me…left me…and now…you seek to destroy what I work for…I will destroy you…and your little pet Xenmaru as well!"

* * *

Next chapter get! Who could that nefarious being be?!

Azure Euphoria: I figured it'd be a nice little twist, the evil Oba-chan being turned into a little girl with bright pink hair. It'd throw her off, and show the difference between her old self, and her new self. As for Aina…not even I know…

YinYangWhiteTiger: Not too sure about the Sora bit…but I CAN mention him…a lot. Third game isn't out in US yet, neither is the Second, but Wikipedia articles, and reading a specific Topic on Naruto Forums gave me a good look at the plot for the Second and Third games. It's still nothing compared to actually PLAYING the damn things…but it'll do for now.

Yamimaru: two words and a symbol. Sora Skeith. PM me to find out more about that theory of mine.

Fallen Oblivion Angel: I think your name could be an Area in .hack…I'll have to check. Anyway, glad you like this, and I hope you like the update.

Well, we see some more of Xenmaru's personality, along with his reactions to certain events. The Staff will play a bigger role later on…and who the HELL is pissed with Morgana this time?


	4. Revelations

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter IV: Revelations**

Xenmaru and Morgan had split ways. The entire time she was around him, she seemed like she wanted to tell him something. Something rather important. But she never did. So, being who he was, Xenmaru shrugged it off, figuring she'd tell him when she got around to it. She had gone off to level. _"This damn character is way too weak for my tastes." _Xenmaru had to agree. She had the spells, but not the SP to use them. Of course, unknown to Xenmaru, what she had wanted to tell him, but was so unsure about, was something rather pressing…

**Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.**

"Well…we're all here. What was so important Morgan?"

(Play GU Vol 2: Avatar Space)

"I'm surprised."

The pink haired girl was standing in front of the altar that once housed the statue of Aura.

"You really don't remember me…or anything do you?"

She turned and looked at Haseo when she asked that question. He blinked, bewildered.

"What are you talking about?"

"I remember when you were younger…you used to be one of the most feared PKers in The World…but what was strange about you was that you'd ask for people's member addresses…before killing them."

The Infinity Eight plus Aina looked at her as if she were crazy. However…Haseo was starting to get a headache.

Morgan began shimmering, the area around her flickering.

"It was you…who kept me going…it was you…who I stood waiting in stasis for. The original wielder of Skeith…"

Flashes, pictures ran through his head. They were blurry, contorted, twisted. He saw a male 'wavemaster' with silver hair, a blue haired 'heavy axeman,' a strange looking Blademaster…and a girl…a girl in a white long nightshirt with puffy white hair…floating upside-down.

"The one who helped Tsukasa give birth to Aura." Wiseman stiffened as recognition sunk in. _Impossible…_

"The one who lead the charge against my ultimate defense…Sieg at your side."

Kuhn's eyes widened. He remembered what she was talking about. "No…"

"The one who played both sides of the field…in search of friends…"

Haseo fell to his knees, clutching his head. "Argh…" His hair flashed green for a moment.

"The one…who was my first true Data Drain…"

Everything fell into place. He remembered.

"O…oba-chan?"

Morgan gave a small sad smile…

"It's been a long time…Sora."

He stared at the girl in disbelief. Then what he remembered sunk in. His eyes blazed red.

"You…BITCH!"

He leapt at her, weapons brought out, ready to attack the one that caused him so much pain, that took away a good portion of his life.

Morgan had steeled herself to her fate, ready to be assaulted, willing to take whatever and any pain he brought…when she was forced to move away as a black and red scythe slammed into where she just was, halting Haseo in his tracks.

"What the-

"YOU BITCH!"

Haseo, Morgan, everyone blinked. They all turned to see Xenmaru standing at the entrance of the chapel. Rage was flowing off of him like a black writhing aura. He shot towards her like a bullet, right arm flung to the side as a blood red staff appeared in his hand.

"YOU KILLED ME YOU FUCKING TWAT!"

His form shimmered and vanished. Morgan had just barely gotten out of the way before the ground where she was once standing just exploded, shattering like fine glass. Morgan hid behind Haseo, who was very, VERY confused. He felt her shaking. SHAKING! As if she were scared.

And indeed she was. In fact she was scared shitless. Haseo, even Avatar Skeith she could deal with. But Xenmaru, who unknowingly has a small portion of her power over The World…He could literally kill her, and not even Aura herself would be able to reconfigure her data. However she had no idea what he was talking about.

**Moments before: Delta Server Root Town: Mac Anu…**

Xenmaru was roaming the city rooftops, leaping around from roof to roof like a bad Naruto rip-off. _Well this is fun…doesn't help me Log Out though…_

Not long after Morgan left, he decided he wanted to rest a bit, and went to log out. However the words "Action Invalid" appeared in front of his face. He blinked, and then focused on releasing himself from his headset to reset the computer…when he heard a static sound and was knocked flat on his back.

"Awe jeez what the hell?"

He tried again, same sound, same feeling of nothingness, and same result. _Why…do I have a really bad feeling about this. _Deciding to try again later, he left the Chaos Gate and wandered aimlessly, attempting to decipher this new quandary. He found himself wanting to get a higher view of things (it was near sunset, and he had a little known soft spot for sunsets near large bodies of water) and suddenly was on top of the roofs of town. He had a bit of fun leaping across roofs like a ninja (it was his dream when he was a child) but grew weary of not being able to figure things out, and landed in an alleyway. He strolled to the center of town, when he overheard two PCs talking.

"Hey, did you hear about that kid the police found?"

"No…"

"Well, apparently this guy hadn't shown up for work for a couple weeks. Nobody was answering the phone, and nobody answered when they went to his house."

"Sound's like a loser to me."

"Hey shut up, there's a really messed up reason behind it."

"Fine, keep going." _Yes…keep going._

"Well someone called the police, and they bashed into the house. The place looked normal…but when they went into one of the rooms, they found a body lying on the ground, wearing a set of goggles."

"Whoa!"

"It gets worse! The computer was still on, and he was logged into The World…but…"

"But…?" _But…?_

"Well, he wasn't responding…hell he wasn't even breathing! They called the Para's and…well…he was dead."

Xenmaru felt a cold chill…

"What happened?"

"Apparently he died from either dehydration, or lack of nutrition…or something. His body shut down, he had no pulse…"

"Did they get a name?"

"Yeah, they checked the logs of CC Corp. His name was…"

"Well?"

"Sorry, my wife just called, dinner's ready."

"Tell me the freakin name!"

"Oh right. His name was Zero Shinzaki. Nineteen years old, he lived alone…"

Xenmaru froze. _Zero…Shinzaki…that's…that's MY name! Wait a minute…Morgan…could she have known? _He flashed back to when he was doing a school project on internet gaming. He remembered learning about a program going wild before the CC Corp. main building burned down. He had a few hacker friends look deeper…and he found out the name of the program was Morganna Mode Gone. Apparently this program had the ability to knock players into comas for undeterminable amounts of time.

_That…little bitch…she…killed me. She…Killed me!_

That thought circulated around his head until all he felt was blinding rage. Never before in his life…had he wanted to rend someone asunder as badly as he did now. Something within him resonated with that wish, the wish to find her, and he vanished. Moments later, with a loud noise, he appeared on the bridge leading to Aura's Chapel. He knew…she was there.

**Present Time.**

"I'll KILL YOU!"

He raced towards the girl again when there was a white flash of light before him. The flash came accompanied by a wave of force that knocked him backward.

(Play GU Vol 3: The Hope of Dawn)

Floating before him was a pale skinned girl clad in a white long flowing dress. Her shimmering silver hair flowed behind her.

"Xenmaru…please, calm your anger."

His eyes flashed red. "Look lady…I don't know who you are…but you're in my way, and that is a VERY bad place to be right now. I will ask you this one thing. Move."

She shook her head, spreading her arms.

"I shall not."

"I will ask you again. Move."

"I refuse."

"Then prepare to die."

He vanished again. Aura allowed herself one, VERY rare uncharacteristic statement.

"Crap."

There was a shimmer, and then a clanging noise as Xenmaru brought the staff down on Aura. However a figure materialized before her, blocking the attack. Unfortunately that didn't stop the wave of force that barreled over the entire group. Aina went flying, but was caught by a strange figure, clad in black. She looked up and was about to say something, when the figure placed their finger over her lips and shook its head.

Xenmaru's attack was blocked, barely, by Azure Flame Kite's twin blades. However it was the next movement that surprised everyone. He was sent flying back by a kick in the face from…

"Aura?"

Xenmaru flipped in mid-air and landed on his feet. His rage was temporarily pushed aside by the new arrival.

"Not quite."

She did look like Aura. At least in the face. Where Aura had silver hair with blue tinge, this girl had Blonde hair and black streaks. Where Aura wore White and Silver, this girl wore black and red. While Aura's dress was big, and puffy and flowing…this girl…well, she looked like she belonged in a bondage hentai. Tight black top, black fingerless gloves…black frikkin everything. Xen got up slowly.

"Now see, THIS is what a girl is supposed to look like when she's going for the revealing look. Talking Cleavage, you could learn a lesson from her."

Pai glared at him, pulsing vain appearing on her forehead. "What did you say you little twerp?!"

The "Other" Aura laughed. "Talking Cleavage?" "Best I could do on short notice…" "Whatever…"

She turned to Aura, who was staring in disbelief.

"Z-Zefie?"

"Good to see you again Mother."

"Wh-what happened to you? You've…grown!"

"Indeed I have mother. The re-formatting of The World changed me into…this. But I like it."

Xenmaru got back into stance.

"Alright…uhh…Zefie, was it? You mind? I'm kinda trying to kill the pink haired bitch."

"Sorry, you'll have to go through me…since Mother is protecting her. And I cant let you harm Mother."

"Dammit…it's always the good looking ones. So be it…I'll just go through you!"

He flickered again and appeared…suspended right above Zefie.

"Huh?"

Zefie's hand was outstretched.

"Unlike mother, my programming allows me to actually attack others."

A black mass appeared beneath him. _Awe…shit._

"Bye-bye!"

Morgan tried to stop her. "Zefie wait!"

She let go, and Xen dropped into the black abyss.

"BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIttttttttttch!"

Morgan slapped her forehead. "Zefie…"

"What?" "Do you even know where that leads?"

"Sure…to grand…father…"

"Exactly."

"oops…"

**You have no time to despair worthless child!**

"What the-

Large black orbs appeared around them. Within were randomly leveled AIDAs.

"Well…this might be fun…"

* * *

Wow…that chapter did NOT go as I had planned at all. I originally planned for Zefie to be the Anti-Aura…but when I had her knock Xenmaru away…yeah, the chapter took over. Obviously as you can tell, the AIDA are controlled by an anti-existance of Aura. And…well…Aura cant fight. It's not in her programming. The next chapter's a bit more tame. Guess who Grandfather is!

Fallen Oblivion Angel: it's not soon, and it's nowhere near the way I had planned it, but it's an update. I hope this can hold you over. The next chapter…well, it'll have an interesting development in it.

Tasogare: If by Dirty you mean perverted…well…it's GU…Pai is like perversion incarnate. I doubt I can hold off much but I'll try…if I can get my bloody thoughts together properly then I'll be able to make the story the way I want it to be. If by Dirty you mean the language…well…I doubt that'll change, sorry. Hope you keep reading though.

YinYangWhiteTiger: IF you mean the fic, then it takes place entirely after GU. There will be game mentions, as well as mentions from the past .hack series as well. And by the way, your Sora wish was granted…although probably not the way you expected!

Azure Euphoria: You'll get your avatar wishes soon enough. As for Aura being the evil…well…you're half right. As for Xenmaru coming from Kingdom Hearts…well, I'll admit Mansex's (AKA Xemnas) name DID spring to mind…however when making this name…I thought of the state of mind, Zen. A state of clarity, calm, and relaxation. Maru directly translated means "Circle" however it's also a popular suffix for names. So basically, what I did was take the word Zen, change the Z to an X, and slap Maru on the end to make Xenmaru, which would mean "Circle of Zen/Circle of Clarity". Pretty deep ne?


	5. Avatar P1

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter IV: The Last Avatar**

**Part 1**

"This is gonna SUUUUUUUCK!" Xenmaru landed flat on his face. However, luckily for him there was a bed to break his fall. He bounced a few times before settling. He slowly rose, cursing the blasted female that sent him along that crazy ride. He looked around.

"Whoa…Talk about taking "One with nature" to the extreme…"

The "room" he was in, if you could call it that, was no more than a bed, in the middle of a grove. Tall trees lined the circular grove…but what caught his eye the most…was a floating, upside down man in a chair.

_That guy ROCKS!_

(Play GU OST2: Riddle of the Creator)

He approached calmly, the man seeming to be asleep. He took in the man's appearance. _Ok…standard old man clothes…check. Really awesome chair…check. Hair that gives him the power to defy gravity…check, check and check again._

He stood and watched. _Alright enough foolishness. I just got sent down a black hole by a really cute girl and landed on a bed in the middle of a forest, with a strange upside-down old man in a chair. I've got no idea how to get back…or even if I WANT to get back…_

The old man opened his eyes. He saw Xenmaru's back turned to him as the young warrior thought to himself.

"Hello."

Xenmaru jumped. "WHAT THE-

He saw the old man awake.

"God…Damn old man! Don't…DO that!"

"My apologies…" Here he stared at the youth. "Zero Shinzaki."

Xenmaru immediately drew his blades. His eyes flickered red. "How do you know that name old man?"

"You are in 'Our' world. I am the creator of The World. My name is Harald Hoerwick, and all I had to do was look at you, and your information was mine."

"So you only have my information."

"Yes, I cannot read minds."

"Good." He put his weapons away. "Alright Upside-Down Old Man, (Harald grimaced at the nickname, but said nothing) where are we?"

"We are in an area outside of User or Administrative control…this is the room of my Daughter…Aura."

"Aura…white hair, blue eyes, kinda looks like she threw on a bed sheet for a dress?"

"Yes."

"And I'm guessing her Mother, aka your wife, would be Morgana?"

"Morgana lives?"

"What, you try to kill her or something?"

"No…she was originally supposed to be a program meant to 'give birth' to Aura. Created with the sole purpose of bringing forth the Ultimate AI. Morgana however developed a twisted sense of self, and thus trapped the mind of a Player in this world…to keep Aura from being born. She continued to twist Aura in her own destructive way, going as far as to corrupt her data so much that Aura began to be deleted. However the Player defeated Morgana in a battle of wits, and restored Aura to her true self…and Aura was born."

"So…why'd you ask if she was still alive?"

"Not long after that, she fragmented her data to send after Aura and delete her. Aura gave the Twilight Bracelet to a player named Orca, but Skeith, the first Phase of the Cursed Wave that Morgana had based herself upon, Data Drained him, sealing his mind away, and knocking the player's true body in a coma."

As he said that, he noticed that Xenmaru's eyes darkened, and the area around him began flickering.

"However the Bracelet chose another, the player known as Kite. With his Allies, Kite defeated Morgana and the rest of her Phases of the Cursed wave…but that is all I know. You say she still lives?"

"Yeah, and she killed me."

"Killed you?"

"Data Drain I'm guessing. You see, I heard rumors on the BBS about a high level area where sometimes instead of a Beast Statue, the shadow would take the form of a Celtic Cross. So, I decided to pop in and take a look. I got a pair of really kickass blades…and then saw the shadow. I turn around, and instead of the statue, there was a staff. Being the retard I am, I decided to grab the blasted then when I heard a pinging sound like a doorbell or something. Damn thing blasts me across the room, and I'm knocked out. I wake up god knows how long later, and I see Morgana's face. Though I heard her complaining about a loss of data…something about being older…with black hair."

"Well…I doubt she actually-

"I'm not done yet."

"My apologies, please, continue."

"Right…so we take on some Ball Sack looking things."

"Guardians." "Huh?" "Twilight Guardians…they were originally Morgana's creation, a prototype AI that could wield a weakened form of the twilight bracelet."

"Right…well the group that found me called it AIDA or whatever. So anyway, we take the blasted things out, Morgana asks me to travel around with her for a bit…we do basically nothing and then split. I try to log out only to get a headache and land flat on my ass. So I go wandering, and over hear a conversation about some kid that died from either dehydration, lack of food…whatever. Turns out, the kid's me. So basically she killed me. I lived alone, so nobody was around when she knocked me unconscious for about a week. Not to mention its summer, and it was night when I was playing so my AC wasn't on. So now I'm trapped here."

Harald looked at the young warrior in front of him.

"I wanted to get revenge on the little bitch…but your damned daughter stood in my way…then came that Red Bastard from the Blue Fire…and then came your GRAND-daughter, who knocked me here, where I run into you, the Upside-Down dude with the kickass chair and an old man 'fro that makes the laws of physics your bitch."

Harald gave a small chuckle at Xenmaru's description of him.

"I speculate Aura brought Morgana back for a reason…and Morgana had no intentions of truly killing you…"

"Still…I wanna smack the bitch around a bit for it…I mean I'm fucking DEAD! Trapped in a game where if the freakin admins decide "this game blows let's end it" I'm FUCKED!"

"Indeed…however…there is a plus side."

"Really."

"Really. You claim Morgana was complaining over a loss of data, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, I believe some of her data was infused in your character. Giving you a portion of her power over The World."

"And what makes you think that?"

"When you grew angry…the land beneath you began to distort. You have some semblance of control over the flows of this world…"

Xenmaru dropped down and sighed. "I guess it's not too bad…I didn't really have any friends in the Real World…and I am basically living out my dream of being able to do practically whatever…"

"And…I know of a way that you can increase your power."

"Really? How so?"

"You battle…and defeat a very particular monster. It is very strong."

"And if I fail?"

"Your existence is ended forever."

"Right…fine then. I accept."

Harald blinked. "You are sure?"

"I have the feeling…the Bitch and your Daughter might need my help…I SWEAR I heard someone talking as I fell…and it wasn't a good someone…"

"Very well…good luck Zero Shinzaki…or should I say Xenmaru…I will use the last of my existence to bring you this test. If you should succeed…tell Aura…I love her."

The area flickered and shook violently. The forest, the grove, and the old man shattered into pieces. Everything was black. The color returned…only Xenmaru was in a desolate area. He looked up…and saw a gigantic shape.

"A…Tree?"

* * *

Strange way to end? Yeah. Not my best work here…but blame it on real life. Anyway, the next chapter's gonna be good. A good few battle scenes, we get to see how the Infinity Eight plus Aina, Aura, Zefie and Azure Flame Kite are doing.

Tasogare: Well…Pai is gonna make that hard…oh jeez I cant even explain stuff without sounding perverted…

Yamimaru: I know that…but this is the Anti-Aura we're talking about here, the other half of the Goddess of The World. She can do whatever she damn well pleases.

Wolfie: You'll get what's going on soon enough. There's an actual logical reason for the Anti-Aura to exist, as was explained (somewhat) in this chapter. And yes, there will be plenty of the new and older (and dead sexy) Zefie. Zefie FTW!

PirateCaptainBo: AIDA stands for Artificially Intelligent Data Anomaly. You should really play the GU games, along with watching Roots, it'll help a lot, but I'll explain what you don't understand, so don't worry.

Morgana is "Oba-chan" or "Old Lady." She's the "mother" of Aura, a program created to spawn the ultimate AI by being Data Drained after all the information was collected. She went Rogue however, causing a loop in her own data so she could stop Aura from being born, but still complete her original programming. And yeah, Azure Flame Kite is the one from Roots and the Games.

Sora got Data Drained by Skeith at the end of SIGN, Skeith had used Sora's appearance to chase Aura. Sora's mind was released at the end of Outbreak (though you could actually do the side-quest in Mutation). Sora's player has no recollection of being Sora, because of Skeith's Data Drain. So he started The World: R2 as a new player, even though his instinctive skills, remnants of when he was Sora, remained. And as you can see Grandfather is indeed the Creator of The World.

Steeple333: Yes, Sora is Awesomeness Personafied. And yeah, Granfather Harald.

Azure Euphoria: Yeah, Zefie's appearance threw me off too. I wasn't even planning on bringing her in and POOF there she is. Oh well, just gives me another favorite Character to work with!

Alright people, I know this isn't my best work, but I've been pretty stressed lately. The next chapter'll be better, and anything after that will be even better. GU Vol 2 comes out in America this wednsday! So get your asses out there and get that game dammit!


	6. Avatar P2

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter V: The Last Avatar**

**Part 2**

(Play .hack Game Music: CD2 str10 – Cubia Recollection)

Xenmaru looked to the sky above him. A large blue creature floated over the desolate land, glowing fiercely in the night sky. His vision blurred, and suddenly he was seeing a birds-eye view of the creature. Blue horns stuck out from its head, four glowing blue eyes on a demonic looking face, and a large gaping maw. The body was not more than a slab of land with a gigantic crystal protruding from the bottom, a strange black figure inside a pulsing blue orb. The creature's mouth slowly opened and energy gathered within.

"That…doesn't look like it will be pleasant."

The creature loosed a roar so powerful it sent shockwaves from its body. The invisible waves of force impacted upon the young warrior, and he was sent flying through the air. Behind him, in the direct path of his movement, a glowing, multicolored rift appeared.

_Not again…_

He was sucked through the rift, and it closed as his vision went black.

**

* * *

Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground…**

"Phal Repth!"

The glowing light of healing enveloped Haseo, emerging from Atoli.

"Thanks! Now, Sparrow Counter!"

The Multi Weapon dashed towards one of the many barbell looking creatures. He brought his blades up, across the creature's weak point, and then back down, slamming a wave of force into it.

**128**

"That's IT?!"

"PhiAniZot!"

Morgan summoned darkness laden claws from beneath the earth to attack another creature. They repeatedly tore at the Guardian AIDA.

**78**

**78**

**64**

**90**

"Oh come on!" The creature retaliated by firing three tentacles at her, all which she barely dodged.

The group was not fairing very well. Five AIDA versions of the Twilight Guardian had appeared. The mysterious voice laughed at their efforts, even though they managed to take down two of them. Zefie was doing her best to protect Aura and Aina, efforts that were rewarded with many injuries.

"Dammit!"

Haseo was annoyed. "I'm tired of this!"

He focused his thoughts on his Avatar…

"Koi! KOI!"

Nothing was happening. "What?!"

The Voice laughed. "**Useless! Do you think me a fool? I have bound your so called Avatars! The Fragments of Morgana you hold will not work here!"**

Ovan, attempting to keep the mood from souring stated. "Well…That puts us in a pickle now doesn't it?"

Aura stood watching, Aina in her arms. _They all fight to protect me…and yet again, as it was before, I do nothing but run…my program may not give me the power to harm…but I can still protect! This is my…no, OUR world! I will not give it up to an imposter!_

One of the Guardians had Pai in its sights. Its core glowed. A single tentacle shot from it.

"Pai look out!"

She turned and saw the attack heading for her, but could not move. She closed her eyes, readying for the inevitable pain.

_NO!_

A spark, one never seen before, appeared in Aura's eyes. She quickly set Aina down, and then flickered and vanished. She re-appeared right in the way of the attack. Her eyes flickered purple for a moment, and suddenly a dome of light appeared around her. The attack slammed into the dome, completely nullified.

"**What?!"**

The sphere began to shimmer. "You may be me, you may be a copy, but whatever you are, I can at least match your power!"

The sphere flared with light, the energy washing over the group, healing and buffing them entirely.

"I may not be able to attack…" Here, she held out her hand, a staff that looked as if it had a large crescent moon at the tip, with an orb floating inside it, appeared in her hand.

"But I can still help! I won't run away anymore!"

"**So you've decided to join the futile struggle. It matters not! You cannot attack, as well, you still cannot use your Fragments of Morgana!"**

And with that, the battle began anew.

**

* * *

Unknown Location…**

"Blasted thing…DIE ALREADY!"

Xenmaru launched himself at one of the floating orbs only to bounce off a wall of light.

"Dammit, Physical Tolerance AGAIN?!"

(Play .hack GAME MUSIC: CD2 – str20 Final Cubia)

The battle had been going on in a pattern for a while. Xenmaru had found himself hurled on top of the tree like creature he saw, only instead of blue, it was purple. Immediately he was assaulted by branch looking things. He'd drawn his blades and hacked them off, and charged the skull thing. It beat him back with another sonic roar, serving only to piss Xenmaru off. He had learned that the creature, apparently named Cubia, had the ability to spawn random branches in the middle of its attacks and block his path. The branches themselves were easy to kill, but the frequency it summoned them was irritating.

**Ark Bullet**

And of course there were its other attacks. For this one, four beams of energy would twist their way to Xenmaru, and wherever they hit, be him or the area, would be a pretty big explosion. He was quickly running low on healing items, and even lower on patience. And those floating balls with claws on them…

**RENGEKI**

"LOTUS FLOWER!"

He leapt into the air, and spun his body. All five spheres that had surrounded him took damage. Three of them faded.

"PhiAniZot!"

Claws of darkness reached up from the depths of hell and engulfed the two remaining spheres. Enough damage was dealt to kill off the two of them, sending the biggest one shooting around the area before it vanished. He looked, and noticed the health was at 0.

"Huh? Wait, what? YES! WOOHOO!" He started dancing around like a court Jester, laughing.

"Take THAT! In your…face…?"

**Sephira Returner**

Xenmaru watched as its health rose back to full.

"BULLSHIT!"

But it wasn't done.

**Chaos Gehenna**

"Huh?" The creature opened its mouth. A small light appeared between its jaws. The light grew and grew. Xenmaru, expecting the sonic blast again, placed himself firmly on the ground, Scythe in front of him, ready.

However the wave of force never came. What did come however, was a gigantic beam of pure energy.

"Ahh…balls."

The beam engulfed him, making an insanely large explosion. When the dust and light cleared, he was on the ground, health at 1…and in serious pain.

"God…that…hurt…"

He slowly rose, using the rod part of his scythe as a cane.

_Dammit! This…thing…its so fucking CHEAP! How am I supposed to kill it when it just comes back from the dead?! I have to find a way to take it out in one shot…because if I don't…I'm gone…but how?_

He remembered how the sonic blast required it to open its mouth.

_Wait…maybe…if I can get to its head…but…no, the damn thing'll kill me before I get there…_

"_It is my belief…that some of Morgana's power…has gone to you."_

_Wait…Morgana has the power to alter the world as she sees fit…meaning…if I have some of that power…I can…_

He focused on healing his wounds. Suddenly, his health shot from nearly nothing, to over halfway. He could push it no further however.

_Good enough…now…I need a plan…I don't think any of my weapons will do anything, even if I hit its core._

While he thought, he nimbly dodged the attacks sent his way, while attacking back without notice. His body, flowing like liquid, moved on auto-pilot. He didn't notice, but not a single attack touched him, his body releasing a faint glow.

_Wait…don't I have that Staff? Could that do something? _As he thought this, in his free hand (he had unconsciously switched to his Katana) the staff appeared.

_Awesome! I know what to do now! I just hope this works…Hang in there blondie! I'm on my way! And you better not die Morgana-teme! That pleasure is mine and mine alone!_

**

* * *

Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground**

Zefie was guarding Aina, reflecting any attacks sent their way, while tossing out healing items and spells when Aura couldn't reach them in time. Suddenly, she heard something.

"_Hang in there blondie! I'm on my way!"_

She blinked. "What the hell?"

"Zefie-nee-chan?"

"It's nothing Aina…I just…thought I heard something."

_If that was that player…_

Morgana had just dodged another Data Drain attempt.

"_You better not die Morgana-teme! That pleasure is mine and mine alone!"_

_Xenmaru…what have I done to make you hate me so?_

Zefie called out.

"Everyone hang in there! We've almost got her beat!"

A loud "Yosh!" accompanied that statement, as everyone fought on with renewed vigor.

This battle was a lesson for them all. A lesson on how much they relied on their Avatar's abilities. Whether it be the actual transformation, or the added abilities they offer, the Infinity Eight learned from this battle, their Avatars are powerful tools indeed…but the weakness of them is that they rely on their power far too often.

**

* * *

RENGEKI**

**Weapon Change!**

"Lotus…FLOWER!"

Again, he leapt into the air, sending waves of energy out from his spinning body. The spheres backed off. He smirked at them and then vanished in a ripple of air. He re-appeared behind the branches blocking his way.

_I can't go far…but I can FUCKIN' TELEPORT! OH HELLS YES!_

He ran towards the skull.

**Legion's Reach**

Branches shot from the sides of the skull at Xenmaru. Confidence renewed, he leapt on one of them and ran on it while swiftly evading the others.

Cubia roared in annoyance.

**Jihad**

Thunder roared from the sky. Torrents of lightning bolts rained down on Xenmaru. Having no defense, he took the attack, health dropping again. He clambered back to his feet, and pushed forward still.

Cubia's four eyes narrowed.

**Meggido Flame**

Four spheres of burning flame shot from the holes on the sides of the Skull's head. They rocketed towards Xenmaru who smirked.

_Apparently it forgot where I was standing…Anyway, I'm close enough…_

Xenmaru leapt into the attack, only to vanish in the ripple of air, and re-appear above the Skull as it roared in pain from its own attack.

_Distraction!_

He hurled his Scythe with all his might at the creature. The blade embedded itself directly in the center of the Skull's forehead. Cubia roared with pain and anger, a light appearing in its mouth. The light grew as Xenmaru fell towards the skull. This was it, all or nothing.

He held out his hand and the Red Staff appeared in it. He twirled it around his head.

The light grew.

Xenmaru continued to fall, evading the branches shooting towards him at blinding speeds.

The area began to distort, like a bad signal.

Cubia opened its mouth further, energy gathering.

"That's right…open wide…for a nice big helping of shut, the fuck…"

The light reached its climax, and as it was about to fire, Xenmaru slammed the staff's tip into the light with all his strength

"**UP!"**

There was a loud rushing sound…and then his vision went white…

* * *

They were all tired. The tax on their minds and bodies was immense as they fought constant Guardians. What made matters worse, is that three of the new wave fused into one big ball of goo, with a ring in it. It nearly had Aura once, and again it nearly deleted Morgana. Combined with the two remaining Guardians, they were screwed. A quick spell from the goo ball, knocked Zefie and Saku away from Aina, who was also knocked into the pedestal that once housed the Aura statue.

The goo ball sent a wave of force out from it, disabling everyone else.

"Aina!"

"**And now…you will be the first to fall!"**

The orb glowed and fired a single tendril of goo at her, charged with the bracelet's power. Aina closed her eyes, flinching.

Nothing happened.

She opened her eyes only to see the tendril frozen in place, wiggling as if it were fighting against something. Suddenly the area's colors inverted, and a large Cross Shaped Staff appeared in front of the tendril. Morgana's eyes widened.

"**What is this?!"**

"Oh I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

A glowing multicolored rip appeared. From within, Xenmaru walked out.

"Xenmaru-nii-san!"

He looked at Aina. "Hey kid, not too late to join the party am I?"

Ovan couldn't help but smile. The boy had vulgarity, but when dealing with his sister, at least the few times he did, he always treated her with respect, almost like an elder brother. _Yes…continuing our lives in this world was indeed a good choice._

"**Who the hell are you?!"**

"Oh geez not another disembodied voice…I already have one of you in my head, I don't need to be hearing another."

_**Oh…and here I thought you loved me…**__Oh be quiet you…_

"Alright…Disembodied Voice. I've got a life claim on the pink haired child looking one. And she's being protected by the rest of them. So that puts us in a quandary. You can A) Call off your…balls…and leave us in peace, or B)...and this is the one I like better, I smash them, and go after you."

"**Fool! You are NOTHING to me!"**

"Well then you must be LESS than nothing, because you STILL haven't killed a single one of them."

The voice growled.

"Not to mention…" Here he stared at the big orb. It gave off a faint glow, a stream of sparkles heading to the sky. "If I'm right, big boy over there is tied to you…and if I kill it…you're gonna feel it."

"**As if you could! You may have some ability outside of normal players, but you cannot defeat this!"**

The sphere pulsed.

Xenmaru smirked. "Well then…" He drew his blades, which had changed drastically.

"We'll have to see."

* * *

Hope this is good enough. The next chapter will have an unexpected Avatar battle…and a good deal of explanations.

PirateCaptainBo: I doubt Albiro or Lyco will be showing up at all…but I think I can pull something off in the explanation of how Zefie got the way she was…as for PS3, personally I say don't bother. 2 works for now. Wait till 3 becomes a crapload cheaper.

Wolfy: Hah, what can you expect? The poor guy just got killed, literally, by a computer program. That and he's still a teenager, he's bound to have a foul mouth. Just don't be surprised when Zefie starts matching him curse for curse. She's gonna be a wild one!

Yamimaru: the Anti-Aura exists…well…you'll find out next chapter. All I can say is watch SIGN and pay very close attention to what's happening to Aura while she sleeps. As for Cubia being a program to protect Aura, I think you might be right actually. I've been trying not to read too much about it because I wanna see it for myself. I knew Harald made Cubia to do SOMETHING about balancing out a certain power, but to protect Aura…that's something I don't think I've encountered, but it would make a bit of sense really.


	7. Cubia

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter VI: Twilight Dragon**

_**So…what's your plan? **__Kick ass of course. __**Obviously. But I mean how are you going to do it? Those things are at a rather high level…and they could kill you…**__You haven't known me for more than ten minutes and you're already this worried about me? I'm touched. Really._

Xenmaru stared at the glowing creatures. He quickly assessed which way he should attack from.

_Look, don't worry about it ok? You just sit back and watch…and get ready. That big one over there looks like it might need both of our strengths. __**Fine…oh and…have fun.**_

"You know I will…" _Oh by the way, mind doing something for me? __**Huh? What is it? **__Battle music…I need something…crazy. __**I think I have just the thing…**_

**(Play ES Posthumus: Pompeii)**

"**What is this?!" **"Just a little fight music to get the blood pumping."

With that, he vanished in a ripple of air. He reappeared in front of one of the guardians, slamming his blades into its core. The gelatinous creature practically sunk into itself…only to ripple outward sending Xenmaru flying into the air. The Multi Weapon vanished in another ripple, just as he was about to hit the ceiling. The next ripple appeared in front of the other guardian. It reacted by attempting to swing its body like a mace, only to have Xenmaru leap over it, and slash its core multiple times with his blades.

"Come on this is too easy!"

As if responding to his unspoken request for a tougher fight, the two guardians began glowing as he charged at them. They fired off multiple lances of energy.

_Now THIS is what I'm talking about. _He leapt over one aiming for his leg, only to be put in the path of another, however he streamlined his body and then spun essentially twisting through the next five lances. He flipped over another and landed, only to duck and then leap over the next two. The guardians kept firing and he kept dodging, slowly getting closer and closer…when he did something nobody expected.

_**Remember how I told you the Infinity Eight's characters can channel some of their Epitaph's natural powers? **__Yeah…__**We can do that too. **__SWEET! What do I get? __**Well…I think right now it would be a good idea to use that little ripple technique of yours, and then…**_

Xenmaru vanished in another ripple just as another two lances were about to strike him. He popped back into the area, placing his blades…wherever they go in that world. The guardians fired their lances again. Xenmaru pulled back his left palm.

"Heaven's Cry!"

He thrust his palm forward, and a series of sonic blasts emanated from his hand. The sheer force of the waves shattered the tentacles heading his way, and slammed both guardians into the ground.

"Ne ne! Xenmaru-nii-san is really strong!"

Yata stared at the Multi Weapon. "That was not an attack made by CC Corporation…"

"Nor was it something of my creation…"

Everyone looked at Aura.

"If it was…it wouldn't have been able to be used. I don't know where he got those abilities from."

Haseo noted something. "Has anyone else noticed his character? Is it just me…or is he glowing?"

Aura answered. "Yes…he is shrouded in the Light of Transcendence, the same light that all Multi Weapons are engulfed in as they undergo a Job Extension. But…how he is battling in such a form…or where it came from…I have no idea."

"Mom's right." Zefie spoke. "Wherever this power…these abilities…and that light is coming from, it's got nothing to do with Morgana or Aura…"

Ovan mused. "Then where could such power have come from I wonder…"

Kuhn shouted. "Look! He beat them!"

Indeed he had. With a final Rengeki – Weapon Change combo, Xenmaru slew the two creatures. He let loose a whoop of exhilaration.

"Damn! That was fun!"

Endrance couldn't help but comment. "Is he insane?"

(End Song)

"Hey! Disembodied Voice! Got anymore of those things?"

"**You…you just took out two Twilight Guardian AIDA…and you want MORE?!"**

"Never fought those things before really. I like new challenges."

"**But…you could have DIED! Does your life mean nothing to you?!"**

"To be honest? I'm already dead thanks to pinky over there."

Morgana lowered her gaze…though she still had no idea what he was talking about; obviously he believed she was at fault for something…

"**What the HELL are you talking about! You're standing right there!"**

"In real life, baka! Chibi McDumbhead over there knocked me in a coma…and I've got nobody around so I apparently died of either dehydration, starvation, or both."

That hit Morgana like a ton of bricks. By latching onto his mind and sealing it in The World so she'd be able to reconstruct her data as best she could, she caused he end of his body in the real world. Tears came to her eyes as she understood the gravity of what she'd done.

"**Then why do you **_**protect **_**her?!"**

"Like I said, I have a life claim on the little twerp. And since Goddess Girl and Bondage Chick are keeping me from doing that…well…I can't very well let someone ELSE kill my target now can I?"

"**You fool! You may have some strange powers outside of normal parameters, but you are nothing compared to me, nor Morgana!"**

"Perhaps at her full strength, maybe not, but even then, I doubt she'd try to stop me. Besides, what can you do? You're just a Disembodied Voice. You're nothing like the Floating Upside Down Old Man with the Mean Fro in the Deez Chair that makes Gravity his Bitch!"

Those words, although strange, rang clearly in the minds of Aura, Zefie and Morgana. _Does he mean…Harald?_

"**You…I'll show you! I am the TRUE Aura! Bow before my power!"**

With that, the remaining…ball…began to pulse with energy. It shot to the doors of the Cathedral. When it stopped it pulsed again, this time shattering the entire area.

"Hey…this is like when Atoli…"

The surroundings broke way to reveal a wide space.

"Is this…Avatar Space?"

Xenmaru had a confused look on his face.

"Whatty Whattin?"

Yata explained. "Avatar Space. The area formed when an extreme amount of data gathers in one area, normally created by Avatars to make a secure environment for them to do battle in. Think of it as an enlarged battle area."

"So basically a sandbox for Giants huh?"

Yata blinked. "Right…" He sent a private message to the rest of the group. _"I think Endrance was right. He IS insane."_

"I heard that!"

They looked at him.

"And I'm not insane. Just dead. There's a difference."

He turned back around to face the giant pulsing sphere.

"So uhh…why don't one of you just make one of these Avatar thingies and pop that balloon over there?"

"**They can't."**

"And why not O' Disembodied Voice?"

The voice claiming to be the "real" Aura growled. **"Because their Avatars are fragments of Morgana. And I have sealed this place to bind those powers."**

"Right…I'm pretty sure their giant thingies aren't gonna be too happy with you."

Haseo unconsciously nodded to that statement. He could feel in the back of his mind, Skeith growing annoyed at the fact that he couldn't assist his vessel.

"**Enough talk! Now you all die!"**

The sphere glowed fiercely, as the ring from within it emerged. It was surrounded by bubbling black dots. The ring began rotating, slowly at first, then gaining speed. Energy gathered within the ring.

"Why does that not look pleasant?"

Xenmaru turned to Endrance. "Really? I think it looks like a blast."

The others stared at him deadpanned, annoyed he'd make such a bad joke at a time like this. Aina, Aura and Zefie however let out a small giggle.

The giggles turned to gasps however as the ring fired off a gigantic beam of energy.

Kuhn cursed. "Dammit! Without access to My Magus…"

Saku yelled. "This is gonna SUCK!"

The beam rocketed towards them. They all shut their eyes as the light engulfed them.

_**I think this is where We should step in. Don't you agree? **__By all means Miko._

They all heard an explosion. They looked at their stats and gasped as their HP hadn't dropped at all. They all looked up to see Xenmaru standing before them, a wall of multicolored light in front of him.

"**What?!"**

"Hey, Disembodied Voice…remember how you kept saying that I had powers beyond normal parameters?"

"**What about it?!"**

"You've got no idea how far beyond normal they are." _So then…shall we dance? __**Let us, my dear Xenmaru.**_

Glowing symbols appeared overlapping his body. The meaning of them was not lost on all those present.

"Is he…"

"Impossible!"

_I see now…he holds something far more powerful than Fragments of Morgana…_

"Jikan da no mezameru ka…"

The area began shaking.

"Koi! Hitotsu no kakusu da!"

The symbols began glowing as he clenched his right fist. He drew it across his chest, and then swung it out away from him as the darkness around him immediately turned into light.

"CUBIA!"

"Did he just say CUBIA!?"

The group was astounded as they watched the light show in front of them."

"**Cubia…? But…nobody can tame Cubia!"**

Zefie stared. "Well…looks like the nuisance has gotten useful…"

SLAP

Everyone stared in shock as Morgana glared at Zefie, eyes full of tears.

"He was NEVER a nuisance!" They watched as tears ran down her face. "Even without knowing it he…he helped me…protected me…I wont have ANYONE saying a single negative thing about him! It's my fault…that he's stuck here. I should have peered into his mind…but I was too overcome with joy at being free to care about the one I used…"

She fell to her knees.

"You would have let him kill you?!"

"I'd have had no choice. Though if you think, it was obvious he had lost a good deal of his anger as you stood in his way. He could have easily removed you, or Aura, if he had even unconsciously tapped into the part of my power he held. But he didn't…and I don't know why…"

Before anyone could move though, a roar of triumph sounded from behind them.

They all stared at the form floating within their view.

A humanoid looking dragon creature floated in front of them. (Think Bahumut from FFIX.) They watched as four purple bone, or branch looking objects erupted from its back. The branches arced themselves away from the body, and a thin film of light seemed to emanate from them, creating four majestic looking wings. Five claws adorned each "hand." Floating behind it was the Crossed Staff that Xenmaru wielded, however within moments it had transformed. It enlarged in size and grew what could only be described as "tails." These "tails" came from the bottom part of the circle portion of the staff, making it look like a Kite. To finish the look, a large scaled tail floated behind it, the tip having four giant branches jutting out from just below the tip, making it look like a really strange drill. The head was shaped like Cubia's, almost rounded, and with four glowing red eyes.

(Play GU Vol 2: Final Bout – VS Cubia Core Frenzy )

"**He…turned…Cubia into an avatar…"**

"_**Yep! And now I'm gonna pop that bubble!"**_

The dragon roared again, and then shot towards the orb. The orb responded by pulsing, and sending out multiple spheres of energy, like a machine gun. The dragon responded by creating a transparent orb of energy around it. All the little shots were deflected by the barrier. The dragon started floating backwards as its wings began glowing red.

**Legion's Reach**

Avatar Cubia flapped its wings twice, and branching waves of energy snaked their way to the sphere. Everyone watched as each impact took off a small sliver of health from the sphere, but the impacts together were enough to stun it. The dragon vanished in the ripple of air that Xenmaru was becoming famous for, and re-appeared next to the sphere slashing away at it with its claws, finishing by doing an overhead flip and smashing it with its tail.

**Arc Bullet**

The dragon swiped its left claw and twenty beams of energy arced out from its claw and impacted the sphere. The sphere was still active this time, and retaliated by summoning four small orbs from it, each one firing a potent beam of energy.

_Damn! If I get hit by even a single one of those, I'm left open for the others. I don't think our barrier can block it Miko. __**You're right…it can't. Keep moving to its side, it will have to turn to catch us, and eventually it will grow weary and stop firing.**_

They watched as Cubia flew to the left, avoiding the beams, only to have the sphere turn to correct its aim. Eventually indeed it stopped, but the orbs continued to float around it. He fired another **Arc Bullet **only to have the orbs take the hit, while the Sphere fired a beam at him, striking its target.

"_**Argh! That's it now I'm pissed!"**_

**Legions Reach**

Another wave impacted the sphere, again stunning it. Only this time he didn't rush in.

"Uhh…what's he doing?"

The Dragon's wings extended to their fullest as Cubia tilted its head backwards. The Kite floating on its back began glowing, and the longest portion of it seemed to be absorbed into the circle. A moment later the circle began jutting out more extensions until its top half was exactly like its bottom. Cubia's maw opened and a small sphere of light appeared within it. The ring began spinning.

Morgana stared. "He has such control…as if he was meant for this power…just as you all were meant for your Epitaphs…"

Pai was still confused. "But how? Until roughly a week ago he was a normal player…"

Aura broke in. "Perhaps…it is his mind."

They turned to her.

"Perhaps his mind is strong, unusually so. With his physical body now gone…permanently detached from his mind, it has more time to focus on other things…of course this is mere speculation. But…maybe he already had the traits of Cubia within him…and this world…allowed him to express those traits, albeit in a contained form…and with his body's termination…he now has the ability to explore those strengths to their fullest."

Aina shouted. "Look! He's doing something!"

Indeed he was. The ring was now spinning at speeds fast enough to gather the latent energy from around the Dragon. The light in its maw was now bright as the sun.

**Armageddon**

Cubia shot its head forward and a massive beam of dark energy erupted from its mouth. The purple and black beam slammed into the sphere, engulfing it entirely. They watched as its health dropped to nothing.

"Alright! Now he just has to Data Drain it!"

"No Kuhn…didn't you see? There was no Protect Break…"

"Wait…you're right!"

Zefie stepped in. "That's…because it's already dead."

"WHAT!?"

The beam faded. And the sphere was nowhere to be found. The screen flickered as the dragon began to glow. They were returned to the chapel, as Xenmaru, still covered in the Light of Transcendence floated to the ground, only to fall on his knees.

"Oh man…I guess this is what having a hangover feels like…"

"**You…DAMN YOU! You'll pay for this! I swear it!"**

And with that, the Voice's presence vanished. Morgana was the first to rush to Xenmaru's aid…but since his health was at full, she was at a loss of what she should, or rather could do.

"My head…feels like…it was used…as a step ladder…for the One…_fucking _Sin…"

_**Well you did use a lot of mental energy for that transformation…not to mention you KILLED the AIDA without Data Draining it! Of course you feel horrible!**_

"Miko…your voice…is too loud."

_**Of course it is! I'm in your freaking head aren't I?**_

"Miko…you're not helping…"

The voice huffed. _**Fine, I'll wait until you're better before I yell at you for your recklessness.**_

"Thank you…blasted woman…"

_**I HEARD THAT!**_

He flinched in obvious pain, clutching his head. Morgana reached up and began massaging it for him, the only thing she could think of.

He sighed in visible relaxation as she pulled his head into her lap.

He looked up at her.

"I'm still gonna beat the living shi-uhh…"

He noted out of the corner of his eyes that Aina was kneeling right next to Morgana.

"Y'know what…forget it…its too troublesome…"

Suddenly a bright light appeared above them. Xenmaru's eyes squinted in annoyance.

"Someone turn off the blasted sun dammit…"

Aina and Aura giggled at him. Morgana just smiled. The others watched as the light floated closer to Xenmaru and Morgana.

"I said _off _not 'Put the sun on Super-Nova!"

This time even the others had to laugh at his plight. The light flew into Morgana and suddenly she felt stronger.

"Oh…that must have been some of my data…"

"So you have become stronger Mother?"

"Yes…somehow."

A light snore told them what Xenmaru thought.

The girls giggled again.

"I still say he's a bother."

Before anyone could react, Xenmaru began to glow slightly, the same symbols appearing. The ringing noise that accompanied transformations sounded. Only this time…

"OW!"

Zefie stumbled forward as something smacked her in the back of the head. She turned around to see a floating ball with a claw underneath it. Within the ball the image of a purple haired teenage girl appeared, blowing a raspberry at her. The ball then vanished, and Xenmaru's glow faded.

Zefie flushed in embarrassment.

"It would seem that Cubia has a sense of humor."

* * *

It would also seem that this chapter is complete. Now I gotta update my Harry Potter fic…oh balls…

Yamimaru: The Anti-Aura was created due to the sudden change in Aura's data. Oh balls I'm spoiling the future…ahh screw it I'll say it twice. Throughout SIGN, Tsukasa was depressed, upset, all the dark emotions you can imagine. So Aura began evolving to match that, but not awakening. When Tsukasa suddenly renounced those feelings and woke Aura, that original depressed, dark, angry data was incorrectly expelled immediately. Then you have the whole Cubia thing, the whole Phases thing, and throughout the whole time since SIGN (at least in my fic) that negative data was growing until it became an exact opposite of Aura.

Where Aura was light this Anti-Aura is dark. And since AIDA were created due to Aura's sudden vanishing act, it's not to implausible to believe that the Anti-Aura, a corrupt, darker version of Aura could wield these AIDA. Though Corbenik's Rebirth ability originally expelled the AIDA, The emergence of a power that matches that of Aura, just corrupt, re-created them.

And Cubia isn't meant to keep anyone away from anything really. Cubia was created by Harald as a final defense of sorts, in case something within "The World" gained enough power to pose a threat to Aura. It's like if you were a superstar, and you had a daughter, and EVERYBODY wanted a piece of that daughter, and you hired a bodyguard for that daughter…but the bodyguard was like a ninja, and nobody even knew it existed until it was right in front of them.

.hacklover: Cubia is an Anti-Existence Program created by Harald to protect Aura. It emerges when anything that can be classified as a "Key of the Twilight" other than Aura herself, appears. Kite's bracelet was classified as a Key of the Twilight. The light of the bracelet cast a shadow, and Cubia was that shadow. When Kite Data Drained Skeith, the shadow grew explosively and took a form. But since Cubia wasn't originally MEANT for that level of power, and it wasn't given a directive, it was just power without a purpose. Though every time after Cubia showed up, when Kite was going to do something with the bracelet to Aura, Cubia appeared to stop him, since its only program told it to stop anyone that looks like they would threaten Aura.

PirateCaptainBo: Dunno much about the Black Boxes myself, other than that they were placed there by Harald…and I wouldn't be surprised if they contained Cubia or something…maybe even himself…

Wolfy: Hah, I have no idea what you mean by the Whack-a-Mole thing…and you'll get to see Zefie in action soon enough.

Hope you all liked this chapter. It took a while to get my thoughts straight on it.

Now I gotta go to my Harry Potter fic…blarg…


	8. Other

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter VII: Meeting the Other**

**Aura's "Bedroom"**

For the past three days, Aura, Morgana, and Zefie had been taking turns watching both the still unconscious Xenmaru, and a few view screens showing random areas of The World, for any abnormalities. So far, the "Other" Aura hadn't been doing much apparently lately. One or two random AIDA appeared, but oddly enough the regular players were able to defeat them…or at least hold them off long enough for someone to pinpoint a weakness and exploit it. Sometimes, Aura would transport one or a few of the Infinity Eight for a visit, the most recurring ones being Ovan and Aina, the little one taking a liking to the unusual warrior, and the elder holding long philosophical conversations with whoever was around at the time, mostly Morgana and Aura.

It was at one of these times…that it happened.

Morgana had changed. Her appearance was now that of an older woman, perhaps mid twenty's. Her hair had returned to its long raven colored state, and she had returned to her usual kimono, much like the one Kaede wears. She still held a great deal of compassion for many, most of all Xenmaru however. Through the days they had waited for him to awaken, she had called upon the Epitaph users so she could reclaim the missing parts of her. She had theorized that by simply withdrawing only the part of her data that was "her" she could leave the Epitaph users with their Avatars in case of need. Oddly enough it worked, and while not at full power from the act, she was a great deal stronger.

It was on one of the few days that all three "Spirits" as they were called, had gathered in the area. Aura was scanning the lands, searching for any sign of her so-called "Other" Self. Zefie was training by punching and kicking a tree, oddly enough working up a sweat, and Morgana, who had insisted she be called Morgan, had been tending to the flowers…when an unexpected event happened.

"**So…that's where he was…"**

The three of them jumped up from what they were doing.

"**I believe I'll be kidnapping him now then."**

"What?!"

Seconds later, a group of black dots appeared on the bed surrounding Xenmaru. Aura attempted to form a barrier around him like she did herself, but as soon as it appeared, a darker less transparent version of it overlapped hers, and both shattered.

"**You forget, I am You. Your powers will not work against me, for they are mine as well. Anything you do…I can undo. I'll be taking the warrior now."**

The bubbling mass engulfed his form, and vanished, taking him with it. Morgan and Zefie were both angry enough to shoot a random mass of data that had taken the form of a bolt of energy and both smashed into the bed.

"Morgana…Zefie…"

The two turned to the silver haired maiden.

"Go. Inform the others. I will attempt to find where she took him…"

"Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll get hit with a case of bad RPG Villain syndrome."

Both females turned to Morgan.

"What? During the small amount of time that I traveled with him, Xenmaru told me about how most villains in video games tend to suddenly spout their master plans to the heroes, believing that nothing could stop it…and then they have the stupidity to be surprised when said heroes find a way to stop them."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard…you think it'd work?"

Aura giggled slightly at Zefie. "Probably not…but we never know. Now hurry, they must know…"

Both Zefie and Morgan nodded. Zefie leapt through a rip in "reality" and Morgan simply disappeared.

Aura looked to the sky. _What are you doing? What is your plan? Why do you exist oh shadow of myself?_

**Somewhere…**

(Play Chrono Cross: Tower of Stars)

Deep within the walls of Xenmaru's mind the true form of the being behind the character slept. Held within the lap and arms of a beautiful violet haired girl, he slumbered peacefully.

The girl sighed. "Oh Zero you fool…overestimating your abilities in this world…your mind hasn't the time to adjust to the sudden shift of realities. Oh well…perhaps with this rest…you'll be able to finally live the life you've always dreamed."

Suddenly another presence appeared in his mindscape. The violet haired girl turned to face the new arrival, knowing it was a foreign one, for nobody but her was allowed within his mind, and that was only due to it being the only way she could increase his power. A group of blue branches shot from the ground to bar the newcomer's path. Surprisingly the new arrival didn't blast their way through like she had expected.

"Who are you, and why do you trespass on this sacred land?"

"I have no name…as for my reason…I wish to learn."

"Learn what?"

"Why."

Hearing the hidden statement within the new girl's words, the Violet haired maiden lowered her hand, and with it, the branches that barred the arrival's path. The newcomer was shrouded in darkness, so her form was unable to be seen, but she did nary a thing more than simply place her hand on the boy's forehead, and induce a memory…a memory of the first time he logged into The World…

**Flashback…**

_Hmm…this is a bit…suspicious. I just logged in…and already I have a party. A Blade Brandier, and an Edge Punisher. Rather imbalanced party if I do say so myself…but whatever. They've been kind enough to teach me the ropes of the game…but…something seems off._

"Well, here we are at the beast statue."

"Damn…that thing's big. We don't have to fight it do we?"

"What? Oh no, don't worry, beast statues are just that, statues."

"Alright…cause I've played enough RPG's to know that occasionally harmless looking statues turn out to be hideous monsters or something in disguise as they lay in wait to attack helpless players."

One of his party members, a Blade Brandier by the name of Iyoten, laughed.

"You sure know your stuff about games!"

Xenmaru smirked. "I've had to. Been a gamer all my life!" _It's the only thing that kept me going when I was younger…and the only thing that got me money…_

"Well then, I guess it's time. Go ahead Xenmaru, take it. The treasure's yours."

_Interesting…_ "You sure? I mean we went all this way…"

"Don't worry about it; we're always playing, so we've got plenty of time to get our own. This is a low level area, so it wouldn't be of much use to us anyway."

_Point…but something still seems off… _"Alright, thanks." He grabbed the treasure from the box. A level five set of blades…oddly enough that was his level. He turned to again thank them when he found a sword in his face.

_I knew it! These are PKers! Well…I'm not going down without a fight…_ "Wh-what are you doing?"

"The chest at the beast statue is your treasure…but you…are ours."

While Iyoten was talking, Xenmaru had quickly pulled up the Equipment screen, and changed weapons.

Still pretending to be a helpless new player, he stumbled away from the outstretched weapon, crawling to the wall, and reaching it. He turned to see both of them laughing. _That's right…keep laughing…_

He recalled something he heard from some people that had convinced him to try this game. _"I've heard stories about The World. People say that the game is really played more with your Mind, than your controller. The game seems so real…that if your mind is afraid, somehow, your character will be frozen in fear sometimes. Zero…you have a strong mind. You'd do well in this game."_

_Mind over matter huh? Well then, let's just see what my Mind can do!_

"…time to die!"

The grey haired man swung his blade down at Xenmaru at the same time that the girl swung her sword. Time seemed to slow.

**CLANG! SCREEEEEE**

"What?!"

"You two really do fit the classification of the standard PKer. Dumb as shit and twice as gullible. Ne…Iyoten-san…didn't I tell you a few minutes ago? I've been a gamer all my life…you…are NOTHING!"

With a surge of strength, he pushed back both players with his new blades.

(Switch to Chrono Cross: The Brink of Death)

"You're ten levels below us! You don't really think you can win!"

"I may not win…but I'll give you a memory that will be burned into your minds for eternity!"

Zero closed his eyes and felt out, the way he did with all games. He felt for the connections between reality and fantasy, and grasped hold of them. Unknown to him, his character released a faint glow for a moment. It was so quick that the two PKers originally shrugged it off as a trick of the light. The blade user dashed towards Xenmaru intent on killing him quickly.

"_Your mind is stronger than most…you would do well in this game…"_

_My mind…my fingers will move the buttons yes…but my mind will be the one fighting._

He swiftly turned to the left, barely evading the overhead strike. Using Iyoten's opening; he leapt slightly and kicked him in the back of the head, dealing a surprising 10 damage.

_Numbers mean nothing to me. My health may be low, but as long as I don't get hit…_

Asta swung at him from his blind spot. Knowing the attack was coming he hopped, yes, hopped right, and swung his blade into her gut. She doubled over from the attack, but he wasn't done. Using her light body to his advantage, he spun her around whilst on his blade, and then slammed her into one of the pillars. Both attacks dealing a solid 15. Iyoten leapt at him, but Xenmaru caught the attack between his blades. The two struggled for a bit, until Xenmaru shifted his weight to his right, forcing Iyoten left. The Multi Weapon then slammed his left knee into the Blade's stomach, continuing the assault with a few slashes with his blades, finishing with a kick to the face.

Iyoten sent a message to Asta. _"Dammit! This is even worse than with that damned noob the other day! Where he got his friends on us, this guy is actually BEATING us!"_

"_Well what do we do? We can't just-AARGH!"_

While the two of them were talking, Asta had attacked Xenmaru again. She leapt at him with an overhead strike, only to be knocked away as he swung his blade up to meet it, and surprisingly enough, his swing was stronger than hers, so she went flying, while her sword was knocked into the air. At the moment she responded, Xenmaru, in a feature of obvious illegality, replaced his weapons, and then leapt up and grabbed Asta's sword. Not knowing that's not something you're supposed to be able to do, he flipped, and then impaled her on her own weapon, immediately knocking her HP to 0.

Iyoten was shocked. He stood there, amazed, seeing Asta's own weapon used against her. He snapped out of his daze and charged the Multi Weapon. Xenmaru leapt to the side, and kicked off a pillar, drawing his blades in the process. Just as he finished drawing, he swung, and cut through Iyoten's neck. Now though his head wasn't severed, some unknown form of the game classified that as 'death' and his HP was knocked to 0.

Before the bodies faded, Xenmaru reached down, and took their weapons.

"You'll probably get new ones…but perhaps now, this will teach you to underestimate new players."

He turned to the Platform and Selected To Town. He smiled. _I think I'll like this game after all…_

**End Flashback…**

(Return to Chrono Cross: Tower of Stars)

The shadowed figure stood. "I see. So that's how."

The purple haired girl asked. "What do you mean?"

"You hear what he hears, correct?"

"Yes, but not if he focuses on making sure I can't. He hasn't yet though."

"Good. You will see soon."

The shadowed presence left as soon as it appeared.

"Well that was weird…"

**Unknown Location…**

Xenmaru groaned and opened his eyes. He blinked as he felt a weight on him. His vision cleared to show a beautiful girl wearing a black dress, similar to one he's seen somewhere before. Long black hair with silver highlights framed her pale face, and piercing red eyes stared at the world. Not noticing he was awake, for he had been making slight noises in his sleep as well, the girl, frustrated with his slumber, leaned forward and kissed him. His eyes widened in surprise. _Well…this is a method of waking I haven't been subjected to yet…_

What surprised the girl however was that he started kissing her back. A few moments into it, she pulled away, eyes wide, staring into his.

"I don't suppose you're up for an encore huh?"

The girl blushed and smacked his chest. "I thought you were still asleep."

Not wasting a moment, he clipped. "So you regularly kiss sleeping boys?"

She blushed deeper. "No! I…I…oh damn you!"

Xenmaru smirked at the girl. "Not that I mind waking up with a beautiful girl straddling my lap…_Not like I can experience it anyway, blasted deadness…_But who are you…and where am I?"

"I…I am me."

"Right…"

"As for where you are…you are here."

He blinked. _Great…another riddle maker…as if Sheela wasn't enough… __**Who's Sheela? **__Oh hey Mikoto. Sheela is…well…was a person I knew growing up. She was smart beyond her years…and had a habit of slipping around peoples questions by stating obviousness. It was funny, if a bit annoying at times. But it was useful, taught me how to think in unusual ways._

"Alright…what's your name, and what is this place?"

Pouting at the fact that he knew exactly what to ask to get a straight answer, the girl responded.

"I…have no name. And…this place, is a place of my creation. It is my home."

"You don't have a name?"

"No…I wish…I wish for you to name me."

_WOAH! Hold on a minute! I know what happens in situations like this. Dude names girl, girl does something really fucked up to dude._

"What happens when I name you?"

The girl looked at him, genuinely confused. "I…I receive a name…I become…myself. A person."

"And that's it."

"Y-yes. Is something else supposed to happen?"

"No…I've just read a few too many horror manga is all."

"Oh."

"Fine…your name is…"

_Wait…this girl…she smells…like that other girl. Aura…she smells like Aura. That means…_

"You're the other half aren't you?"

The girl blinked.

"You're the one who's creations I fought not long ago."

She looked to the side, a forlorn look on her face. "I was afraid you'd figure it out."

"Why do you seek a name? When you were so content claiming to be the "Real Aura?"

"Because I want to be myself. I am Aura; I am Aura's shadow, the one who exists at the end of the path she did not follow. I was created when Mother Tsukasa chose to renounce her darkness; chose to deny Morgana…and the resulting awakening of Aura expelled all the parts of me that was her. All the darkness she had collected was removed, to be lost in the folds of time…but eventually, as time passed, more data of negativity, of sadness of pain of anguish, became collected. When The World was destroyed and recreated as R: 2, I was born. And the first thing I witnessed was the player called Haseo being PKed. But Aura had vanished. And her disappearance caused horrible glitches in the form of AIDA. I watched as more and more horrible things happened to this world, until Haseo and Ovan saved it. And when Cubia was defeated…I was truly able to exist. But I was still nothing but a shadow of Aura, her other side, the part that wasn't recognized. But I want to be _ME_! I want to have a self!"

_**Xen…you should name her. **__I will…and I know exactly what to pick._

"Fine…your reasons are pure enough I suppose."

"You mean you'll name me?"

"Yes. Your name shall be…"

**Serpent of Lore…**

"Xenmaru-nii is gone?"

"Yes…a group of AIDA just appeared out of nowhere, along with that voice, and took him. Aura tried to stop it, but the voice overlapped her attempt with a field of her own, negating Aura's."

"Damn…so now we have to find him?"

"Yes…"

"Huh? Ne, ne! Nii-chan!"

Ovan kneeled to Aina.

"What is it Aina?"

"Xenmaru-nii sent me a message!"

The group blinked.

"He said he's fine, he met someone and would be back in a few days. He said to tell Morgana not to die until then, and to tell the spitfire Zefie that he wants a spar when he comes back. He also said he'd be out of contact for a while."

"Did he say who he was with?"

The girl scanned the message.

"Yes."

"Who is it?"

"A girl named…Alicia…"

* * *

Yes, I know I meant to write my Harry Potter chapter next…but this damn chapter appeared in my head this morning and I HAD to get it out lest it be lost to the tides of time.

PirateCaptainBo: I know so much from following the series, .hack//Wiki and word of mouth, along with going around message boards and paying really close attention…oh and my friend Vince. He and I tend to theorize about A LOT when it comes to .hack. Technically Cubia would be a part of Xenmaru now. Just how Skeith, Innis, Magus and the other Epitaphs are part of Haseo and the others. Only Xenmaru's and Cubia's bond is tighter, because Zero Shinzaki has literally BECOME Xenmaru. So his mind is closer.

Rainfire: AFK? Uhh…dunno really. Vanished back to wherever the hell it is those three go when they aren't knocking off AIDA or irregularities. I should probably give him a bigger role…but since I've already tossed in TWO new women…hah, and don't worry about not finding the right word to describe Xenmaru…I tend to make stuff up on the fly when it comes to verbal descriptions…

Yamimaru: I can't tell if you're worried or exited…either way…technically he won't get an Xth form. Just access to certain classes, and a new class that at the moment, only he can use, but might end up as a new class for everyone later on. I'll give you a hint as to what it is though. He hates guns.

Wolfy: "Xenny-chan?" That's a new one…as for who Miko is…well, it should be obvious after this chapter ne? Only those who have the type of attention span I do would be able to figure it out, or at least get an inkling of who she was…so don't worry about missing anything. I did that on purpose.

Alright, before anyone complains, Iyoten and Asta are only used as PKers against Xenmaru because I couldn't be arsed to make two entirely new characters, descriptions for them, and backgrounds, just for them to never show up again. Iyoten and Asta are well known PKers in the .hack fanbase, so it was easy to use them. Plus, I've seen them in action, and know how to make them act. Is it possible for a level 5 character to beat a level 15? Hell yeah, I myself have taken on enemies in the arena that were at least 10 levels higher than me, and won…due to running around like a pussy and using Hangeki's constantly…but I still won dammit!


	9. Encounter

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter VIII: Results of Separation**

"Sir…the anomaly has been sighted again."

"We keep getting more and more reports of the black dots turning into the same creature!"

"Damn…and what about _them?_"

"They seem to have encountered the black mass on multiple occasions lately…originally sightings were low, almost nil, but suddenly they began to spike."

"It's like the situation a year ago…and Yata is still unavailable?"

"He hasn't responded to a single one of our messages sir."

"Damn…contact…the Shinigami."

"Sir?"

"We have no choice. For a regular player, he's been quite reliable."

"It's not that…he means that…Zero Shinzaki is dead sir. It was all over the news."

"I know…but Shinigami Xenmaru yet lives. I don't understand it myself, but my daughter has seen him walking around."

"Could someone have hijacked his account?"

"Yes…but they'd have to be a stalker."

"Why do you say that sir?"

"Because he acts and speaks exactly like Shinigami Xenmaru does. So unless someone managed to watch Mr. Shinzaki, every time he logged in…"

"It would really have to be Him then."

"Indeed. Like I said, Contact Shinigami Xenmaru. He is most likely at least partially aware of the situation…but it helps to combine resources."

"Sir, we've got another sighting!"

"Dammit. Send him a message! We need his help…"

"Sir…the Shinigami…how will we pay him?"

"What?"

"If it really IS the Shinigami we all know…then he's dead in this world. How will we pay him?"

"…Dammit…I didn't think of that."

"We could…upgrade his character!"

"No…that wouldn't work. He's been spotted around a few extremely powerful Vagrant AI. Not to mention the last time someone checked his class, it said, Sword Master."

"Wasn't he a Multi Weapon?"

"Yes…that means someone illegally upgraded his character…"

"We could threaten to delete him…"

"Are you insane? The AI he was seen hanging around with had a Data capacity nearly three fourths that of Aura! If we deleted his character, not only would we be murderers, but that particular AI would more than likely wreak havoc the System!"

"That's not all sir…there have been reports that he has been contacted by Morganna…"

"Yes…Aura must have brought her back…it would explain many things…but not the reappearance of AIDA…"

"Sir, we'll contact him immediately. He might have some clues."

"Tell him we'll discus payment at a later time…I just hope he's willing to help."

"He should be…after all The World is his only home now…"

**

* * *

Delta Server: Mac Anu**

* * *

Alicia was sitting on the pier, waiting for Xenmaru to show up. The past week had been enjoyable for the AI. She and Xenmaru spoke often, mostly in the recesses of his digital mind, so the apparition of Cubia; Mikoto could join in the conversations. They spoke of his past, his present, and his shaky future. She showed him how to access the rest of the internet from within The World, an ability only the most powerful of AI could use, now wieldable by Xenmaru due to his specific circumstances.

_The Light of Transcendence has faded…his class is now Sword Master…I wonder what that means? Even he claims not to know the depths of this new arrangement. Though I can be sure, it is his connection to the Shadow of Existence, Cubia, that allowed for such a power to be unleashed. After all this time, I still don't get how he managed to "tame" Cubia…or even how he was able to encounter it._

The girl, wearing her usual black dress, but this time, after learning she could, she changed her hair color to a deep violet, pondered on how the events that had happened…could happen.

_It must have been my goody-goody other half. He has the scent of Mother Morgana all over him…and that should be impossible, even as an Epitaph Wielder. Aura must have brought Morgana back…that would explain why the presence I kept sensing around him felt like her. But…when? Blast my programming…if only I hadn't been so hasty for revenge…there are too many questions, and not enough answers._

She stared at the perpetual sunset, and relaxed, feeling the cold water rushing around her feet.

_But it doesn't matter now. Xenmaru is with me…and soon…soon I will be complete._

She was no fool. She knew the re-emergence of AIDA was due to her awakening, and the strength she had gained. As long as she and Aura remained separate, The World was in danger.

…_But I don't want to die…I don't want to die at all! But…what if what Xenmaru said is true? What if I _won't _die? What if when it happens, our minds, our memories, become one? Would it be enough? Would I still be able to feel as I do now?_

Again, the girl was in turmoil. She clutched her arms and shivered…when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She flinched and looked up.

"Yo."

She gave a weary smile.

"Xenmaru…you surprised me."

_**Looked like more than that to me kiddo. **__Indeed…she must have been in deep thought again._

"Thinking about the inevitable again?"

She flushed and nodded.

"Alicia, what have I always told you?"

"Not to think. There are times that it causes more harm than good."

"Exactly. So stop thinking!"

He ruffled her hair affectionately. The two had grown quite close over the week they had been together. She smiled at him, blush still on her cheeks, and noticed someone behind him.

"Who is…"

"This is Aina. She's a friend of mine…sorry Alicia, I wouldn't have brought her but…"

"Xenmaru-nii hasn't been around for too long!"

"Yeah…"

"Xenmaru-nii? You never told me you had a sister!"

"I don't. She's Ovan's sister…she just calls me and Haseo 'nii-chan.'"

"Oh…well then, hello Aina. My name is Alicia; it's a pleasure to meet you."

The girls shook hands. "Ne, are you like Aura-nee-chan and Zefie-nee-chan?"

Alicia blinked.

"H-how…"

"She's always been pretty good at recognizing familiar existences. You have to admit, being the other half, you DO feel like Aura…and Zefie IS Aura's daughter."

"Th-that's true…"

"So I was right? Yay! Xenmaru-nii! What do I get?"

"Uhh..." He blinked. He rummaged through his inventory till he found an accessory. He customized it a bit, and then gave it to her.

"Sugoi! I'll equip it right away! Arigato Xenmaru-nii!"

The item he gave her was a rather rare one. It took off the first seventy-five points of damage from both magical and physical attacks. It could only be used by level One-hundred and Twenty and higher players though. It would seem that Aina had done a bit of leveling.

"Ne, Xenmaru-nii! Is she your…" She held up her pinky.

Alicia blushed heavily and sputtered. Xenmaru just stared, and then laughed.

"No Aina, she's not…though I'm willing to bet she'd like the job."

Alicia blushed even deeper, silencing herself and ducking her head to cover her weak smile.

_Damn…I must have been pretty obvious…_

He sighed, restoring his neutral state, and handed a paper over to Alicia.

She blinked, and took it.

"What's this?"

"It would seem someone at CC Corp. knows I yet live. They've requested for me to investigate the cause of the re-emergence of AIDA in such large quantities."

"But…why you?"

"I guess you've been too focused to realize. I'm the Shinigami. It's a custom title I got from CC Corp. for being one of their most active contacts in The World. Before the Avatar stuff started, I was the one going around to areas with weak AIDA gathering information. After Yata showed up though, I wasn't needed for that. I'm somewhat of a de-bugger. As such I have a few…custom abilities. Nothing as powerful as the Twilight Bracelet or anything…but since the beginning I always had a strange connection to The World. They have a few other freelancers as well, at least four in every country that accesses, but I gained the trust of a few of their key members."

"How'd you do that Xenmaru-nii?"

"Saved the lives of their children. Some of the more important people at this particular branch of CC Corp. have families that play this game. A few of them were under attack by AIDA…I managed to hold it off till Breast Physics showed up and took it out. It wasn't even a mission; I just had a bad feeling and followed my hunch. Didn't even know they were related to anyone I worked for. I just saw players in danger from an unknown element and did what I do best."

"So…what happened?"

"Well, I held the blasted thing off long enough for Boobmaster Pai to show up, and I had a meeting in-game with the fathers and mothers of those players. I found out then that the players were their children, and they were beyond happy that I saved their lives. They granted me the title of Shinigami, gave me a really badass cloak that I would use for later missions, and even upped my pay a crapload. I think what got to them the most was the fact that I did it to do it. Not for a reward, or anything. Cause apparently those player characters were pretty widely known to be the children of CC Corp. employees. I didn't even pay attention to who it was, I just acted. And I pleased a good deal of parents."

"You risked your life for strangers…without the prospect of reward?"

"Meh, had nothing better to do. I was always like that. I'd do weird stuff either out of boredom, or my own personal morals. Never did care too much about myself. Though I didn't plan on dying so soon."

_Never even managed to get laid…though there were a few close ones. __**That sucks. **__Yeah…_

Alicia was looking over the report.

"So…the AIDA have taken to controlling monsters?"

"Yeah, they're acting like Morgana's old data bugs. They don't seem to be infecting players as often anymore…rather preferring to infect Monsters…and then PK the Players and knock them out for a bit. The stronger the monster…"

"The longer the coma. That IS a problem."

"Yes, but it allows for the better players to handle these things themselves. The biggest problem is there's always new players…and for someone to have just started playing…and suddenly be knocked out…"

"It causes a problem for the company…along with The World itself. Many AI do call this place home…and to encounter one…"

"Could kill them." Aina finished.

The other two gave a small start, partially forgetting she was there.

"What else does it say Alicia-san?"

"Well…it says that they mostly pick specific area words…why you? Why not inform Yata, and have him send the others?"

"Probably because I've always been straightforward with them. Yata tends to horde information for a bit, releasing only as much as people ask for. Probably from his days as Wiseman in R:1."

"Yes…I can see how that would be a problem…"

"So what do we do Xenmaru-nii?"

He looked at Aina with a raised eyebrow. "_We_ don't do anything. Alicia and I are going to the area to find this thing…however there IS something you can do for us."

"What is it?"

"Find your brother and the others, or at least him and Haseo if possible. I'll tell you the area words that we'll be going to. Alicia is powerful, and I'm no slouch either, but Mikoto and I haven't fully figured out what Avatar Cubia can do exactly, so if this thing turns into its original self, and it's not like the Guardian AIDA that Alicia used to send around, then we might not be able to handle it alone."

"Ossu! You can count on me!"

"The area words are…Theta: Severing Life's Thread."

"Damn that's morbid."

"Theta: Severing Life's Thread. Got it! I'll send Onii-chan a message now! Good luck you two!"

"Thanks Aina. Alright Alicia…how should we do this?"

"I think I can get there directly. It's best to do it that way, in case AIDA has locked down the field."

"Alright."

She closed her eyes and waved her hand. A wall of black and grey particles surrounded them. The wall looked like static on a TV. They vanished as Aina sent her message.

_Good luck Xenmaru-nii…_

**

* * *

Field: Theta Server: Severing Life's Thread…**

* * *

They appeared in a wave of static. The wall vanished, and they looked around.

"Well…I can tell _something _is here…but where I have no idea."

"Let's take a look then."

Xenmaru pulled up the map. The area was a Beast Statue area.

"…why do I suddenly not like the implications of this?"

"What is it?"

"Beast Statue."

"Well, that just means we won't need to fight a boss."

"Hopefully."

The two of them roamed the dungeon. It was Xenmaru's favorite design, the Asian temple. They checked every room, broke every possible breakable object, defeated every monster, and even kicked every Chim Harvesting area. Their efforts were fruitless.

"God dammit! Where the hell is this thing?!"

"I don't know…lets check the Beast Temple."

"I'm gonna be soooo pissed if that thing is there…"

They opened the doors to the Statue room…and saw a battle field. They looked at each other.

"That's not normal."

"Think we found it?"

"Yep."

Xenmaru ran at the area. It warped…and suddenly repelled him.

"Fucknuts!"

Alicia blinked. "That's a new one."

"Can you disable that thing?"

"Let me see…" Alicia focused on the data surrounding the field. It was corrupted…but not horribly. She erased the command that stated "Hold Barrier."

The field shattered, and a figure went flying from it. Xenmaru had just stood up, only to be knocked down by the blur.

"SHITMONKEYS!"

Alicia couldn't help but laugh slightly as she ran over to see if the two were alright.

The figure got up as Xenmaru did, the boy rubbing the back of his head. They looked at each other.

"**YOU!"**

"You're that sadistic psycho bitch that kept attacking me!"

"You're that guy that kept beating me!"

Alicia sweat dropped. _Oh dear…_

Someone cleared their throat.

The three turned, Xenmaru and Alicia paling when they saw what it was.

"…no way…this goes against EVERYTHING that's in the system!"

"…don't tell me…that's…"

The figure that ran into Xenmaru drew her blades again. She had green hair with one strand sticking straight up in the middle, turning into a curl. She wore a sky-blue fighters' dress with a dark brown butterfly looking attachment on her back. White long boots with dark brown toes (best word to describe it right now) adorned her legs. She wore no pants, and the dress had a wide opening on the sides to fully show her legs. She had brown bracers on her arms, which seemed to be attached to the white gloves on her hands. Black cross shaped marks seemed to stream down her upper arms. Her green eyes were wide open, and then narrowed slightly as she gripped her blades tightly.

"I could have SWORN these things didn't show up except in Open Fields…"

Standing in front of the three of them…was the girl's AIDA infected reflection…

"Holy shit on a shit sandwich…"

Their target…was the girl's Doppelganger.

* * *

Been a while huh? Been busy with my other HP fic. Next chapter we see a MAJOR battle! Test your Knowledge! Who was the girl who's doppelganger they're about to fight? Hint! She shows up in volume 3! Extra hint! She knows Piros!

YinYangWhiteTiger: true, and nothing but talking in this chapter as well…but there's back story, and a battle setup!

Rainfire: uhh…huh? AFK means Azure Flame Kite…though I'm pretty sure your sugar induced mind was talking about something else…by the way, the dictionary updated itself with an unusual word…it's all over the news!

Yamimaru: well, your worries are answered in this chapter. Technically, since he has Cubia as his Epitaph, he IS an Xth form. But no, he doesn't have Haseo's Xth form. The Class Sword Master...allows for him to use any bladed weapon he chooses. And create a couple of his own. You'll see examples of that here. Basically, he's like a tweaked Multi Weapon.


	10. Extermination

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter IX: Extermination**

(Play The Black Mages: J-E-N-O-V-A Final Fantasy VII)

"What the hell? The music changed!"

"That was me. Little specialty of my character, if I so choose I can switch around the battle music for those in my party."

"Oh so I'm in your party now?"

"Take a look at your menu."

Sure enough, the girl looked at the menu and saw the character images of Xenmaru and Alicia next to hers.

Before the girl could comment, Xenmaru had leapt and knocked the both of them to the side, as the black mass fired a multicolored beam of energy at where she once stood.

"Damn thing's been doing that since I first fought it!"

_Yeah, it's definitely infected…__**So what should we do? **__Take it down of course…_

"Alicia! You stay back and cast alright? Stay on the defensive, only attack when you're SURE you have an opening!"

Alicia distanced herself from the enemy.

"Alright…Natsume was it? You think you dance with me?"

"Hmph, this? This'll be nothing."

The two smirked at each other and drew their weapons. Natsume drew her cloud-like blades, while Xenmaru drew his katana. It glowed a soft purple light.

Natsume charged first, sweeping her blades in a sideways swipe, which was blocked by her copy. The monster raised its free hand, charging its attack, when it rolled to the side to avoid a downward slash from Xenmaru's blade. The girl took that moment to strike, and landed a powerful smash into the beast's face, knocking it back and into a wall.

Xenmaru hurled his katana like a spear, hoping to impale the monster, but it rolled to the side just in time, the sword embedding itself into the wall. The creature flickered and vanished, and suddenly Natsume was submitted to the same treatment it was. Suddenly, the creature roared in pain, distracting it from the girl, who was promptly healed by Alicia. It turned its head to find a scythe sticking out of its back. It wrenched it out and tossed it to the side, vanishing, intending to strike Xenmaru.

He watched the creature vanish, and raised his right hand. Instantly, it slammed into the odd shaped blade that had appeared in his hand. It looked like a small trident, attached to a Celtic cross. Xenmaru knocked the monster into the air, and drew a second weapon, identical to the first. He swung the right weapon into its side, knocking some health off of it, and followed up with a back kick to its face. He then leapt and slashed his left blade, cutting into its health again. Using the momentum from the slash in the air, he spun himself, to basically saw into the monster. Alicia and Natsume watched as the Doppelganger's health dropped dramatically from the assault.

"_Alicia! Attack now!"_

The girl nodded, and fired a spell.

"Lei Zas!" A beam of light shot from the girl's hands, and slammed into the monster, knocking it, once again, into a wall.

Xenmaru finished his spin, and landed. From the dust, came a beam of energy aimed at Alicia. The beam impacted on a dome of light she called forth, and splintered; ineffective.

Alicia fired another light beam, and suddenly blue and purple rings began surrounding it. Xenmaru smiled at Natsume, nodding. She charged up, and dashed forward.

**RENGEKI**

"**Whirlwind!"**

Xenmaru and Alicia watched the damage.

"Sweet. Almost there…"

Natsume hopped backwards to avoid her clone's retaliatory attack.

_I wonder why it's not using any skills…_

Suddenly it vanished.

"Cra-

It re-appeared behind Natsume...and a moment later, a series of slashes encompassed her entire body, knocking her health down to nearly nothing, and making the rings appear.

"Oh SHIT!"

Xenmaru tried to move, but it was too late.

**RENGEKI**

"**Shiranui Upper!"**

The monster dashed at Natsume, slashing wildly. Left, right, left, right, down-right, up-left, cross, flip double-slash, double back-flip kick, and finally a straight uppercut to the face, followed by a leap and a double handed slam back to the ground.

"Damn!"

Xenmaru quickly whipped out a Revival Medicine, and used it on Natsume. Thankfully, he made it just in time. Alicia blasted the doppelganger away again, and the two rushed over to see if she was alright.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Huh? Where am I? Who are you?"

"Uhh…Natsume…?"

"Yes?"

"You…don't remember who we are?"

"I know you?"

"Yes…"

Alicia and Xenmaru looked at each other.

"What…do you remember?"

"I remember walking through a dungeon…and then reaching the beast statue…after that…I don't know."

She looked up at them.

_Her eyes are closed?_

"Uhh…Natsume, why are your eyes closed?"

"What do you mean? They always look like that; it's the way I designed my character."

_**Then why were her eyes **_**open **_**when we met her? **__I don't know…_

"Strange…your eyes were open when we met you…"

"Really? Oh…I guess then you met the other me…"

"Other…you?"

"Yes, a friend of mine told me I seem to have two sides. The normal me, and the other me. He said the other me is almost the complete opposite…but I never remember anything from what it did."

"_She's insane." "No…she has split personalities. Kinda like that Bo kid. Only instead of it being an entirely different persona, with their own life and name, it's still her, just less…whatever the normal her is." "Like I said, she's insane."_

Xenmaru rolled his eyes at Alicia, and suddenly tensed. In his mind he saw a bright flash. Quickly he grabbed Natsume around the waist, causing the girl to blush, and used Alicia as a spring-board to propel all three of them in opposite directions.

Alicia was about to yell at him when she saw the bright beam of energy that pierced through the spot they were just standing.

_He…how did he know?_

Suddenly, the area vanished. They were now standing on absolutely nothing. The area around them looked like open space.

"This…isn't good."

* * *

Aina had managed to find her brother. Using him as a medium, she relayed her message to all of the Infinity Eight, who met in the area she instructed them. Unsurprisingly enough, Aura, Zefie, and Morgana appeared as well. She rushed ahead as soon as they all arrived, surprising everyone. They chased after her. They watched as she literally plowed through anything in her way.

"Ovan…what the HELL has your sister been eating?"

"I…can't say I know Haseo. This is unusual…even for her."

Zefie spoke. "What I wanna know is how the kid is able to smash through those things!"

"I wonder…If that Alicia person…had something to do with it."

"COME ON! OPEN UP!"

They reached the Beast Temple area. However, the door wouldn't open.

They saw Aina banging on it.

"Open up! OPEN DAMN YOU!"

They all blinked.

"I think she's been hanging around Haseo too much."

"Shut up Pai!"

"XENMARU-NII! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

A voice rang out.

"**Aina? Is that you?"**

"Xenmaru-nii! I brought the others! But this stupid door wont open!"

She kicked it again, and everyone heard Xenmaru's chuckle.

"**Now now Aina, that's not very Ladylike of you."**

"I don't care! I want this stupid door OPEN!"

Everyone noticed how she began to glow a soft purple.

"**I don't know how I can help; we're stuck in that weird space that shows up whenever an Avatar comes into play. Problem is, all that's here is this weird cocoon thing. I don't like the looks of it though."**

Pai spoke up. "Is there any way you can open a gate from your end?"

…Nothing.

"HEY! ANSWER ME!"

Still nothing.

"Xenmaru-nii! Can you make a gate from inside?"

"**I don't think **_**I **_**can…but…"**

* * *

"Alicia, can you?"

"I can try…"

The girl closed her eyes, and let out a sigh of air.

She began glowing softly, a sickly black. The energy gathered around her and shot in front of her, slowly forming a doorway.

* * *

"Now why the hell did you answer her and not me?!"

Nothing. The only response was the door pulsing black.

Yata mused. "Maybe he can only hear Aina for some reason…"

Saku stepped in. "That makes no sense! Why would he be able to hear _her?_"

Morgana pitched in. "Perhaps…it has something to do with his avatar."

They all looked at her.

"Yes…mother is right…Xenmaru-sama's avatar is Cubia…Aina…embraced Cubia's existence for a short time, and as such she was linked to it in a very slight manner. Perhaps it's through that link, that Xenmaru is able to hear Aina wherever he is."

Endrance piped up. "Then why can _we _hear him? If the link exists as you said, then wouldn't Aina be the only one to hear him?"

Zefie spoke. "No…because he has some of Grandmother in his data as well. And you all have Avatars…so you can hear him…just not speak to him."

Khun mused. "That makes sense…but what did he mean by cocoon?"

Aina spoke. "We're about to find out! The gate's open! Come on!"

She rushed through, followed by the others.

* * *

(Play .hack GU: Avatar Space)

"Xenmaru-nii!" Aina rushed to him and hugged him.

"Hey kiddo. You got everyone?"

"Yes! Aura-nee-chan, Zefie-nee-chan, and Morgana-chan all came too!"

His face darkened slightly. "Really now."

Alicia slowly stepped behind him.

"Natsume? Why are you here?"

"I don't know. Xenmaru and Alicia said I was the one fighting…that thing, originally. It must have been the other me…because I don't remember."

Everyone looked up and saw the cocoon.

"Well…doesn't that look interesting?"

Pai saw the girl attempting to hide behind Xenmaru. "You must be Alicia."

She looked at them, and nodded.

"My name is-

"Pai. Epitaph Wielder of the Seventh Phase, Tarvos."

Everyone blanched. "Y-yes! How did you know that?!"

She stepped away from Xenmaru. A black aura emanated from her.

Aura floated forward.

"Hello…shadow of myself."

"WHAT?!"

"Hello yourself pacifist."

"M-mother? That's…"

"Yes…she is my other half. Though I still don't understand…"

"Blame Morgana-teme over there."

Morgana looked confused. Sad, but still confused. _He still hates me…_

"What are you talking about?!"

"Alicia was created when Morgana attempted to corrupt Aura, and link her existence to the Human Wavemaster known as Tsukasa. Tsukasa had a troubled past, and was the perfect choice to attempt to silence Aura forever. Filling her with constant negative emotions and data, she managed to get Aura over halfway to being corrupted, when Tsukasa renounced Morgana, and her troubled past, and awoke Aura as the Child of Light Harald wished for."

"That still doesn't explain how she came into existence though."

"If you'd let me finish Chesty LaRue; you'd find out."

Pai fumed but said nothing.

"Alicia's existence started from the sudden dissaperance of all the negative data Tsukasa had collected within Aura. Normally, such data would scatter…but Morgana was still going wild. Every day more and more data combined with what was already there, until it slowly became a sentience of its own. It wasn't until R:1 ended that she fully awoke however. She slept until Haseo entered the game, in which she saw him getting owned by those twits Iyoten and Asta. She watched as the AIDA emerged, and got even more negative data from it. When Aura woke up again, she was now filled with that negativity, and decided to enact her revenge. I just so happened to wake Morgana at the same time she began her plans. And the first thing on her mind was to kill Morgana. Of course, since I ended up with a claim on her life, that goal was ended."

Zefie stepped in front of Aura protectively.

"So you plan on Killing Aura."

"Oh please…I'm not an idiot. Killing Aura would do me no good…" Here she looked over to Xenmaru, a strange look in her eyes. "Only harm…no…my goal isn't to kill Aura. I wouldn't mind beating the living shit out of her for a while…but I'm not going to kill her."

"As if I believe that!"

Alicia looked at Aura. "Are you _sure _she's our daughter?"

Aura giggled. "yes…she is. If you look closely, she seems to act like you slightly."

Suddenly, the area rumbled.

The cocoon in the sky began glowing.

"Oh great…what's going to happen now?"

"AIDA…hundreds…no…millions!"

"Alicia?"

"They're all coming to this one point!"

"Huh?!"

"I can feel them! All of them! That cocoon…this is going to be their last stand!"

"Well then…lets give them a fight to remember."

The black particles all swarmed to the cocoon in the center. The cocoon gave a huge flash of light…

The final battle for The World…had begun…

* * *

Alright people, I want monster ideas. This thing is gonna be big. I've used the barbells, and I've used a dragon already. I need something that fits with AIDA, and would be pretty badass to see. The last few chapters are coming.

Rainfire: yes, I'm alive. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. The battle for this one didn't go as well as I had hoped, but it works. A big surprise is coming in the next couple chapters…

PirateCaptainBo: Glad you enjoyed it. Here's the next update!

ShadowWolf255: Yep, you got it!

Yamimaru: I brought Natsume in because she's already in GU, and I always did like her. My original specs had plans for Xenmaru to encounter Boredeaux, Shino, Tabby and a few others that Haseo did…but I could never figure out how to work them in. Seeing as this is one of the last chapters of this story, its unlikely anyone else is going to show up. Also, I know that Natsume in-game is unaware of her PKing side. However, since this takes place a while after GU, it's safe to assume SOMEONE, probably Haseo, would tell her. I still wonder how that side came to be…perhaps it's a side effect of being Data Drained in the first four games…seeing as she DID have a confidence problem back then…

The story is slowly coming to a close…


	11. Beginning of the End

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter X: Beginning of the End**

The cocoon exploded. From within dropped a very large creature. Xenmaru took one look at it and smirked.

"How…appropriate."

The monster that dropped out from the cocoon…was a gigantic Nine-Tailed Fox.

"What do you mean, 'appropriate?'"

"Kitsune, or fox spirits, are rumored to grow a tail every 1000 years after their birth, up to a maximum of nine, supposedly. It is appropriate that AIDA would choose this form, as a symbol of its growth and evolution."

"I…guess." The rest of the group was dubious of his reasonings…but then the creature roared, a sound that echoed throughout The World.

Trying to pre-empt it's attack, Pai focused on her avatar. "Tarvos!"

The symbols covered her body…and then shattered.

"W-what?"

The others tried, again to no avail. They turned and stared at Alicia.

"What? Don't look at me, I'm not stupid enough to try to bind your powers when there's something that could potentially kill even _me _around!"

"Then what…"

_Miko? _**Lets give it a shot.**

"Mezame…"

He felt it…the link between him and Cubia. He grasped at the link, trying to begin the transformation. The symbols appeared on him as well. However they too shattered.

"What?!"

_Something that binds even the powers of the Hidden One…_**I'm sorry Xen…I don't know what's wrong! I can feel you, but I cant reach you**

He unknowingly spoke aloud. "It's alright Miko…"

"Well…looks like we'll have to do this the old fashioned way…"

Everyone solemnly nodded and drew their weapons.

Xenmaru crossed his arms. His form glowed. He shot his arms to his sides, holding them out, palms outstretched. Black and White energy coursed around his arms till they reached his palms. Two rings of light appeared hovering in front of his hands. The rings grew crosses in the centers, and continued spinning. A beam of light emerged from the edges of the rings. The beam split into three, like a fork. Finally, he grabbed the lights and they turned into weapons. He spun them between his fingers for a few moments and then slashed them across the air, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Show off."

He smirked at Pai.

_Can you still…_**I think so.**

**(Play Okami: Demon Lord Nine-Tail's Extermination)**

"What the hell?"

"New music."

Alicia got into a battle stance. "Any idea how to beat something like that?"

"Nope…"

"So our usual strategy then?"

"Yep."

Alicia nodded, and then shot backwards. She pooled energy into her hands, and fired at the beast. It roared in annoyance.

"HEY! UGLY! YOU WANNA PIECE OF THIS?!" She turned around and bent over, slapping her ass tauntingly. The AIDA turned Kitsune roared at the girl, and ran towards her.

Xenmaru sprung into action. He leapt at the beast, slashing its snout with his blades. He then flipped onto its head, and raked the weapons between its eyes. It roared in pain and swatted at him. Moments before impact, he vanished in a ripple of air.

"Plectra Bullets!"

Kuhn fired into the monster's side. It did minimal damage. Natsume leapt into the air and spun, cutting into the monster's back. It flicked its tail, and a torrent of lightning rained down on the girl. Just before it impacted, Aura flickered into view, and a shimmering dome of energy appeared, blocking the attack. Natsume landed, nodded her thanks, and dashed away, as Pai ran in for a swift kick to its face. It flicked a different tail, and a gale of razor sharp winds surrounded her, taking off a good deal of HP, and causing her operator a great deal of pain. Endrance jumped onto the monster and stabbed his blade into its side, slowly sliding downward.

"Lei Zas!"

Two female voices called out; a wave of light lancing towards the monster. Endrance pulled his blade out just in time to avoid the attacks. The creature screeched in pain. Haseo ran at the monster, pelletting the Fox with hundreds of small shots. It flicked its tails in his direction, sending fireballs, water blasts, and even huge rocks at him. He evaded all the attacks, and drew his scythe.

**Weapon Change!**

"**Rekkuzan!"**

He spun like a saw and slammed himself into the giant monster. He didn't cut through, but he did deal a great amount of damage to it.

Suddenly it screeched in pain. Two of its tails vanished.

"That's it! The tails represent how strong it is!"

Zefie fired wave after wave of energy blasts at the monster, while Morgana hacked at one of its legs.

The monster flicked another tail, this time at the one member of the group not fighting, Aina.

She screamed in fear, but Aura flickered into view again, and threw out her barrier.

Alicia was hovering over Pai, healing her. She tossed in a small clump of data. "Pai…you might want to look at your skill list…"

The large chested woman nodded and checked the list. "What the…"

An attack she'd never seen before was in her list. It's SP cost only said one word. All.

"The strength of that attack is determined not only by your strength, but the amount of SP you put into it."

"Th-thank you."

"Just wait till I say to use it. Put it in your skill trigger for now. Your chosen weapons will do very little against this creature. Leave the majority of the battle up to the ranged and blade users."

She then turned away, and fired another blast.

Morgana grew irritated with the monster.

"Zefie! Cover me! I'm going to try something!"

The blonde nodded, and took a position that would allow her to move to Morgana's defense at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, Ovan and Kuhn fired their projectile attacks while Atoli and Bo healed the damage the others were taking.

Morgana began to glow. The monster noticed, and though it had lost a further two tails, it charged an attack. It roared again, and a gigantic beam of light shot from its mouth, heading straight for Morgana. Two blurs appeared and the beam slammed into a powerful barrier.

Alicia and Aura had both shown up and were blocking the attack.

"Damn…this thing _must _be pissed for it to take both of us to hold it back!"

"I have to agree. Mother, whatever you're planning, please hurry!"

Though her eyes were closed, she nodded.

_Hear me fragments of myself. Phases of the Cursed Wave…Your hosts are in grave danger. This beast may be currently losing, but it holds far more power than even Aura can match. You may not be able to overlap your power with your vessels, but give them your strengths, give them your lives…become one with them, and show this abomination who the REAL masters of this world are!_

The tuning fork sound rang through the area.

Suddenly, the Infinity Eight began glowing. Their respective symbols appeared around them.

Morgana dropped to the 'ground,' her energy spent. _I hope this works._

(Play Final Fantasy 7 Suffering Planet OC Remix)

Within each of the PCs containing the Eight Phases, the fragments of Morgana pushed themselves to the limits. Though they couldn't induce the transformation into their fused selves, they could at least assist their hosts.

Atoli was the first to notice a change. She began floating in the air as her Lost Weapon turned into an orb of light that split into two. The twin orbs flew to her hands as her cape seemed to transform into a small pair of wings. The orbs pulsed, and out came a pair of light blue energy blades.

"Th-this is…"

Similar things were happening to the others. Random objects from their times as Phases appeared. Xenmaru took a good look at the group.

_I feel kinda left out…_**Why? We have our own set of abilities. **_Yeah…but look at them. They're a group, they're friends…partners…I doubt any of them have even met each other outside of this game…and yet there they are, able to battle together as if they'd known each other their entire lives…_**You never had that did you…? **_No…either people would move…or I would. Sheela was the only one that I grew close to. Well, more like the only one I had the chance to. But she moved away two years ago. Left…before I could get any contact information. And now…I'm stuck in this world. _**Zero…**_Bah…what am I doing. I don't have time for this. Gotta fight on ne? Protect my home…_

The Kitsune howled. It glowed a fierce red, and its lost tails grew back.

"Damn! We have to start all over?!"

Suddenly, the tails became points of light. Points of light that separated. Eight out of nine tails turned into a beam. The beams shot towards each one of the epitaph wielders, engulfing them in a separate dome of energy.

"Battle Areas…"

"Well then, while they take care of business there…we'll keep foxy busy."

Xenmaru focused again and drew his blades. _The only home I have left…the only Life I have left…_

_I don't want this world…to end._

**

* * *

**

The light that slammed into him took the shape of a Fox woman wielding a katana. He stared her down, evaluating his opponent. The creature charged, and a deep black segmented blade appeared in her path, blocking her attack. He dashed to the side, firing off arrow shaped beams of dark energy. The energy impacted and dealt considerable damage to the Kitsune, but she summoned a group of transparent swords and fired them at him like bullets. The two blades of darkness that followed him blocked every attack.

_It would seem that these fragments are far weaker than the whole…this would work to my advantage…_

He directed the blades to attack her, and she spent the last few moments of her existence fighting them off, before Ovan summoned a huge ball of dark energy, and smashed it, turning it into a bunch of needle like projectiles. He directed them to surround the woman, which they did. She looked around in fear, and resignation, just as the wall of darkness crashed in on her. The dome collapsed, and he looked around.

**

* * *

**

_This thing…can't hurt me! _Pai had learned that the creature attacking her couldn't deal a single point of damage. Her symbols would glow, and the attack would be deflected. Pai delivered a punch to the fox woman's face, followed by two jabs to the gut, and a back-flip kick. She gathered energy into her left palm.

"Orb of Revenge!"

The ball of energy flew towards the creature slamming into it and containing it within. Her symbols flared again, and she clapped her hands together, crushing the orb, and destroying her opponent. The dome fell, and she scanned her surroundings.

**

* * *

**

_I miss my sword…but this whip does nicely. _His lost weapon turned into a thorned whip, much like the stem of a rose. The whip could send out crescent blades of light, which he was enjoying immensely. The Kitsune woman couldn't land a single hit in, for with each crack of the whip, another blade would be sent out, and she would be forced to dodge. The creature saw an opening however, and leapt to the air, planning on bringing her sword crashing down on him.

_Well that's not fair…__**No my dear Elk…it's not…but I believe…we have something that can stop it…**__yes Mia…whatever you wish…_

He began to twirl. The whip fragmented and turned into a twister of sharpened rose petals. The fox woman crashed into the newly erected barrier, and was sawed into by the blades. Endrance made one final spin, and then lashed out with the stem of the whip, which reformed it, and wrapped around the Kitsune. He then slashed as if he were slicing with his blade, and the fox woman was severed in two. The data scattered, and the dome shattered. _**Now my darling Elk…find your friends…**__Yes Mia…_

**

* * *

**

When the dome appeared, the symbols on Saku's body flared with purple light. She suddenly felt herself grow numb, as a second form of her appeared behind the Kitsune. This form was covered in blue symbols.

"S-Saku?"

"Bo? We've split? But…how?"

"It must be our avatar's ability…it's given us separate bodies!"

"Well then what are we waiting for! Lets get this thing!"

Bo fired blue pellets of energy at the confused fox woman. Each hit did minor damage, but it held her in place while Saku summoned two bladed rings of light. She flung both of them at the fox woman, and they smashed into her. Bo then trapped the Kitsune in a bubble.

"You ready sis?"

"Of course!"

Bo held up his left arm, while Saku held up her right. The two of them began to glow, and together, they fired a large sphere of purple energy at the bubble. It crashed, and exploded. The dome around them vanished…but they were still separate. They looked at each other, nodded, and went to join the others.

**

* * *

**

Confused, but interested, the .hacker turned administrator surveyed his opponent. His fans had vanished, instead turning into large golden disks that floated around him. Every time the monster would attack, either he would vanish out of the way, or the disks would appear in its path and knock it back. He found he could use the disks to fire beams of energy at the monster, and experimented multiple times. Finally he realized what he had to do.

He teleported right in front of it, and as it slashed, teleported away. He appeared above it, and before he fell, he began firing multiple blasts of energy. The four disks then surrounded the Kitsune, blocking its escape. Simultaniously, all four fired potent beams of energy, that engulfed the creature, and destroyed it. The dome fell, and Yata moved to join the rest of the group.

**

* * *

**

The Kitsune would attack, and he would wave his arm, and the green barrier would appear. He was smirking, having fun with toying with his opponent. Kuhn would fire a lance of energy, and the creature would dodge, only to slam into an orb that would explode. Eventually, he trapped her in a web of energy lines. He created a set of plant like orbs around her, and snapped his fingers. They all exploded at once, taking her out.

"Man…that was simple…"

The dome fell, and he joined the group.

**

* * *

**

Atoli was having the time of her life. For once, she had power. She was the one dominating. She was the one in control. Move after move, clash after clash, the girl's fighting skills increased by the second. She was too fast for the fox woman to keep up with. The Kitsune would block one strike, only to get hit by another, and then another, and then another. Atoli didn't even use a single ranged move. She just made a copy of herself, and then dashed in while the Kitsune was busy attacking a mirage.

_Finally…I know how it feels to be the one in control…to be the one dominating…and DAMN does it feel good! Ooh…everyone better watch out! A new Atoli is coming to play!_

The girl laughed out loud, confusing the monster, and knocked it into the air. She boosted above it, and then flew right at it. Atoli crossed her arms, which crossed the blades in front of her hands. Just as she reached the creature, she slashed both blades in an X shape, cutting right through, and destroying it. The dome fell, and the smiling girl floated off to join the rest.

**

* * *

**

Haseo dashed around, a group of glowing energy blades flowing behind him like a cape. He would swing, and they would swing. He would thrust, and they would thrust. They answered to his very movements, his very thoughts. The monster before him never stood a chance. When he decided to spin like a saw, the blades made an X shape around him, sawing through the monster like it was nothing.

_Damn…Xth form IS the shit!_

Dome shattered, he went to the others.

* * *

Finally they were all together again. Xenmaru, Zefie, Aura and Alicia had all finished holding off the giant fox. It roared in annoyance and began glowing. Its tails grew back.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

"Pai! Do it now!"

Pai looked at Alicia, and nodded. She called up the skill trigger, and activated her last technique.

She pulled back, arms cupped at her side. A sphere of energy appeared and began sparking.

"**Shin-ku…"**

The energy flared, and she threw her hands in front of herself.

"**HADOUKEN!"**

A HUGE beam of energy erupted from the palms of her hands, slamming into the great beast. It roared in pain as it was knocked to its side. It slowly got up, greatly damaged…and then started glowing.

But this time…it curled up into a ball. The sphere raised itself and began gathering energy.

Alicia flew over to Xenmaru.

"We can't fight like this…we need their full powers."

"Then that means…"

"Yes…we have to do it."

"Alicia…"

"I know…"

She placed her hands on his right arm.

"You'll only have one shot…so make it count."

"Alicia…"

She placed a finger on his lips. "Please…don't. It's hard enough to do this. Just…Thank you."

"What for?"

"For making me feel…like I had a self."

She kissed him. The same way she did when she first woke him up.

"Time to go…"

She stepped over to Aura.

"Hey…other me."

"Yes?"

"I'm not sorry."

"Wha-

**THWACK!**

Alicia delivered a bone-shattering punch to Aura's face. She had focused a great deal of energy into it, and as such, a green dome of light surrounded aura, and then shattered. The others gasped. Zefie screamed.

"MOTHER!"

Alicia grabbed Aura's arms and held them behind her back.

"NOW XEN!"

With a resolute look on his face, Xenmaru focused his thoughts on one thing. Before anyone could react, they were all knocked back, and to the ground by a wave of force that came from his body. He raised his arm, and around it, a silver ring of energy appeared.

"NO!"

"Impossible!"

Alicia gave a sad smile. Aura stared at the ring, frightened.

The ring pulsed, and a cone of black shards of energy surrounded it. Within the cone, a large golden rotating bracelet appeared. The bracelet grew 'arms' that resembled fan blades. The blades spun slowly…and then stopped.

"_It's interesting to say...I may be an AI…and I may be only one half of the Ultimate AI…but I have to say…I love you Zero Shinzaki…"_

A tear ran down Xenmaru's cheek, as the bracelet fired.

_I'd say the same for you Alicia…_

The arrows of black slammed into both Aura and Alicia. Both of them screamed in unison as their data was wrenched apart, the two forms mingling before fading from existence.

The bracelet shattered, its purpose served.

His arm dropped to his side.

_And now…the second part of this fight begins…_

* * *

Surprised? You didn't see THAT coming now did you? It's not over yet. Two more chapters. You'll see something really interesting in the next one…

Rainfire: Perhaps. The beginning of the end is here my friend. Kuhn's name is…annoying to spell. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope this one pleases you as well.

PirateCaptainBo: It's not as soon as you probably hoped…but here it is…

Hachinoko: Piros is…somewhere. Probably doing Piros stuff. Natsume's other self decided to solo the dungeon. Honestly, she was just in the wrong place at the right time.

Wolfy: Sorry I didn't use any of your ideas. But as you can see above, I had my reasonings to pick a Kitsune…though…I wouldn't count the fan-monsters out just yet…

Nimit Dave: keep reading…the magic is just beginning.

Yamimaru: Nope and nope…thanks for the ideas though. The AIDA beast is going to make another appearance before this fic is over…so I might use one of your ideas…

This is it. The first of the last three chapters. Lets see what you think…


	12. Goddess

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter XI: The True Goddess**

(Play Wild Arms 3: Succubus Princess)

Everyone heard it. All the players in The World, all the characters logged in, all the NPCs, everyone. They all heard the screams of pain.

Somewhere in the Human World, a woman suddenly gasped in shock, as she dropped a rather expensive vase, her hands clutching her heart.

"An?! Honey what's wrong?"

"M-Mariko…it feels like…I just lost…a very important part of myself…"

The blue haired woman stared at her lover, confused. _Lost a part of herself? Come to think of it…she has been acting jittery lately…_

The other woman shuddered…as flashes of images shot through her mind. The deep connection she had with the Child of Light remained, however weakened. Her eyes widened in shock as she understood.

"Aura…"

Mariko's head spun so fast for a moment An thought her girlfriend's neck would snap.

"What did you just say?"

"Aura…something's happened to Aura…"

"…I'll e-mail Yasuhiko…he'll be able to tell _him._"

"Mariko…I think its time…Tsukasa and Subaru…returned to The World…"

* * *

"Sir! Massive data corruption is spreading!"

"The e-mails are flooding in! Everyone's saying something about a horrible scream!"

"What the HELL is going on?!"

"I don't know sir…but the servers are holding steady…it's just the data that's failing."

"Is it another AIDA server?"

"I think so…but not affecting the entirety of The World. Just one area."

"Damn…that's where we sent Shinzaki…"

* * *

"M-mother?"

Everyone stared in shock. Nobody could comprehend what just happened in front of them.

_That's not gonna last…__**Our job is to stall for time…why did we have to get the shitty job?! **__Cause we were the only ones to know Alicia's plans Miko…looks like I'm gonna have to play the bad guy for a while…__**does that mean you have to let them beat the crap out of you? **__Hell no! Bad guys only get the crap knocked out of them when they're official bad guys. I'm just playing a role…therefore I can knock the crap out of them all I want. __**Oh well…at least you'll get to go toe to toe with the Infinity Eight…I always wondered how I managed to get beaten by that white haired guy…**_

Xenmaru rolled his eyes.

_Because as powerful as you were…you were nowhere near as strong then, as you were when Kite was around._

"You…how could you?!"

He shrugged. "I'm just following orders."

Yata's eyes widened in recognition.

"So _that's _who you are."

The group turned to him. "What are you talking about Master Yata?"

"This…he is no ordinary player."

"We know that."

"No Endrance…he is the Shinigami."

Pai gasped.

"No way! Impossible!"

Xenmaru smirked. "It's about time you figured it out. Y'know, the Suits are really pissed at you for not answering their summons when this whole thing started."

The others were confused. Zefie's eyes widened in recognition.

"You…are the Shinigami? The one who took out a fully leveled AIDA at level 50…without even having all three upgrades you picked?!"

"Yep. Since that day the Suits haven't been asking much of me. Figure they had Yata doing the important stuff, and I'll admit, with your avatars you were better off fighting AIDA than I was…I got lucky that day."

"Why?! Why did you kill mommy?!"

Zefie's personality had slipped back into her child form's mind.

"Like I said…just following orders."

Haseo growled. "So you're nothing more than a CC Corp. lapdog!"

"Hey, I resent that. I never said I was following _their _orders."

"Then who?!"

"Someone higher up than CC Corp. That's all I'm gonna say."

Kuhn glared and drew his weapon.

"Special case or not…you killed Aura…you killed your own friend!"

It was then…that the surprise happened.

Aina walked forward. Ovan said nothing…choosing instead to analyze the situation…and watch confused as his little sister walked away from him.

As she walked forward, she sent Xenmaru a private message.

"_**I know."**_

"_**You know what?"**_

"_**I know what you did. And I know why you did it. I met her, once before. Just after I was released from within Onii-chan. I didn't know who it was…or what it was…but she gave me a piece of herself. Just like she did the same with you. I didn't recognize her…until she returned my memory of it. I know what you planned, and it's risky…but I'd like to help."**_

"_**y'know. For a kid…you're pretty badass."**_

"_**Thanks. I try."**_

She smiled at him, and then turned around. She stared at the group.

"If you want to fight him…you will have to fight me too."

Kuhn snarled. "Coward! Hiding behind a child! Come and fight like a man!"

"But I'm not a man."

This took them all by surprise.

"I'm dead remember? I don't have a body, I don't have a self. I'm just data now. I've got a conscience, yes, but I'm still nothing more than 1's and 0's in a floating mass of data. So why should I fight like a man, when I'm truly data?"

That shut Kuhn up for the moment.

"Besides. I'm not hiding behind her. I'd have to shrink myself insanely to do that. She chose to fight with me. And if you're reluctant to fight because you don't want to hurt her, that's on you, not me. She's made her choice. And considering all the bullshit she's been through, I think she's earned the right to be able to control her own life."

Aina nodded…and surprisingly so did Ovan. "I agree."

They all turned to him.

"Onii-chan?"

"He's right. Aina has been through a great deal. She has earned the right to choose her destiny."

Pai exclaimed. "But she's just a kid!"

"So was Sakaki."

Everyone turned to Haseo.

"So is Atoli, so was Kite, so am I, and so is Yata, and Sakubo, and Shugo, and Rena and most of the others. It doesn't change a thing. I was a kid when I was Sora, and yet I ended up being one of the key parts to the creation of Project GU. I was the one who bought Tsukasa time to get away with Aura. It doesn't matter if she's a kid in real life, she's become an adult in this game…and since we're not in real life, she's as old as she wants to be."

Ovan drew his weapon. "Not to mention…it gives me a chance to see how much she's grown."

Despite the prospect of fighting her brother…Aina smiled.

"Let's just see, onii-chan."

"I don't care what any of you say, I refuse to fight a child!"

"Then fight me instead."

They looked at Xenmaru.

"There's eight of you…well technically nine if we count Saku and Bo being split. Four for both of us. If you've got a problem fighting a kid, then fight me instead, Breast Physics."

"W-what did you just call me?!"

"I'm fighting you too."

"Whatever."

"Haseo, you and I will fight him as well!"

"Atoli?"

She stared at him with such intensity that he backed off immediately and agreed.

"Alright then, those are the teams. Me against Pleasure Pillows over there, Banana Boy, Captain Grey, and Bird-Girl. Aina will take on The Mask, Pimp-Master Rose, Shine-Specs and Twinrova."

Bo shyly spoke. "Umm…what's a Twinrova?"

"Fused form of two extremely ugly old women."

Saku fumed. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING AN UGLY OLD WOMAN?!"

Yata simply mused. "You have a nickname for all of us…don't you?"

"I have no life. Literally. So time to think these things up is in abundance."

Everyone drew their weapons.

Aina looked at her group…and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, three glowing orbs flew out of her body. One was Black, one was Purple, and one was Silver. Her eyes snapped open in surprise.

The three orbs slowly started spinning around her.

"What-

(Play Wild Arms 3: There's Only One Family Named Schrodinger)

Before Ovan could finish his sentence, the orbs formed a ring of light around Aina, and then crashed into her. She lifted off the ground, as the area around them distorted. When the colors returned to normal, she was still in black and white. Suddenly, color began returning; however, where there was once white, there was black, and the same in reverse. Her hair turned black as well.

She landed softly, and opened her eyes. The others gasped.

Her eyes…

Were blood red.

She began floating in the air, a wicked smirk on her face. Suddenly, twelve black spears flew down around her and her chosen combatants. The spears glowed, and a wall of light surrounded them.

"Well…I guess that gets them out of the way."

He cast a spell. Giant meteors rained from the sky, sending his group flying.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"I'm the bad guy…remember?"

Kuhn glared. _Oh I remember alright…_

**

* * *

**

Shocked with the change in the little girl, the group could do nothing as she called forth flaming blue blades of energy and banished them at the group. Endrance's sword became a whip again, and he twirled, creating the rose-petal barrier his avatar was known for.

The action snapped the others out of their surprise. Saku fired a ray of light at the girl, while Bo summoned claws of darkness from the ground.

At the same time, Ovan leveled his gun, and fired a sonic blast at his sister, whilst Yata was content simply monitoring her, analyzing for weaknesses.

The girl smirked again, and a dome of energy appeared around her, blocking the light blast, and the wave of force. However, the claws of darkness broke through, dealing a small bit of damage to her. She scowled and raised her arms. From beneath her attackers, twin snake-like dragons shot from the ground and spiraled around each other. The two beasts fused and created a vortex of razor sharp winds. Though being attacked, Endrance cracked his whip at the child, the weapon cutting through the wall as if it were nothing.

The little girl didn't expect such an action, and watched in horror as the whip wrapped itself around her arms. The winds suddenly faded, and Endrance smirked. He had a plan…problem was, he wouldn't get to use it.

He yanked on his weapon, pulling the girl to him…however her eyes flashed red, and her body was alight with electrical currents. The wave of lightning shot through her and into the weapon, slamming into Endrance who couldn't react. The whip acted like a conductor, and he was electrocuted. The thorns cut into the girls arms, but she was able to escape, and evade one of the light beams Yata's disks fired off.

_Mou! Maybe this was a bad idea taking them all on at once…_

She mentally shook her head. _Iie! I can do this! I've just got to think like they do! I won't let Xenmaru-nii down!_

Ovan leveled his gun as well, timing his shot in coordination with one of Saku's spells. He fired as she launched it, so his attack would be concealed within hers. Aina blocked the attacks with the barrier, which again shattered. But before anyone could react, she retaliated by letting fly a torrent of lightning from her fingers.

The others dodged out of the way.

_Mou ii! That barrier only blocks two attacks before its out! But…I wonder…_

An idea came to her mind. It was risky, but it just might win her the battle.

She noticed the group was scattered…and took note of where the others were.

_When this is over…if my math grades don't sky-rocket from this…_

She then flew right at Endrance, placing herself between him and Bo. She landed in front of him, and he swung his whip. _Perfect! _She hopped over the attack, and the whip slammed into Bo, who had fired a spell at Aina, which hit Endrance. The others took no notice of this because she was rushing them as well. Yata moved his disks in between him and her, and had them fire. The disks were arranged in a diamond like pattern. The top one fired, and she ducked below it, the bottom fired and she twisted to the left, the left fired, and she spiraled around it, and then to the right. Finally when the right one fired, she had positioned herself right in the way of Saku, who got hit by the last beam, taking her out as well.

Yata blinked in surprise, only to be taken out of the fight by a swift kick to the nose from the little girl.

_If this were real, his nose would be broken…pretty badly._

She landed from her assault and turned to her brother. They smiled at each other, and then Aina charged. He fired a shot. She lifted off the ground and began flying at him. He fired a sonic blast; she twisted out of the way. He summoned multiple lances of darkness; she ducked, weaved, twirled, and evaded every one of them. She was close enough. She cupped her hands together, a ball of dark energy appearing between them. Ovan leveled his gun, preparing one final attack. Just as the two were about to unleash their power, a wave of force slammed into everyone, as the battle area shattered. The force was so powerful it knocked Aina out of her transformed state. Ovan caught her as they fell.

_Looks like…time's up…_

* * *

(Play Sonic Riders: Digital Dimension)

Pai charged at Xenmaru, who hopped to the side, and kicked her in the stomach. The mixture of momentum from her dash, and the kick to her midsection flipped her over his leg, which he then spun her around a couple times, before slamming her into the ground, and bringing the leg down on her back. The move took off a LOT of HP from her. He back-flipped out of the way of a gunshot from Haseo, and twirled away from a sonic blast emanating from Kuhn. He sensed something approaching from behind, and flicked his right wrist. A beautiful Katana appeared in his hand, and he twirled to meet the cross strike from Atoli.

_Damn…she's strong…_

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Haseo level his guns, and fire. He turned back to Atoli, and vanished, causing a small ripple of air where he once stood. She stumbled forward, and was pelted by the shots Haseo fired.

"Ow, ow, ow, DAMMIT HASEO!"

Haseo, Pai, and Kuhn all flinched when they heard her scream at him.

Xenmaru silently re-appeared behind Kuhn.

"You've no time for distractions."

The Steam Gunner whirled around, only to meet a fist to his face. Xenmaru then tripped him up, and kicked him away, only to hop to the side, narrowly avoiding a punishing strike from Pai. He raised his leg, and brought it down, but she had rolled out of the way at the last moment. She punched at him, but he brought his sword up, flat side facing her, to block the strike. He then twisted his body left, and lifted off the ground, delivering a kick to the side of her head. She dropped and was barely surviving. Kuhn leapt at him and knocked him to the ground, only to be sent flying off by a two footed strike to his stomach.

Xenmaru kicked him back into the air and grabbed the man by his hair.

"Y'know…you're really fucking annoying."

He spun like a top, and then let go, sending Kuhn flying. He slammed into the slowly rising Pai, and the two of them were then blasted by a follow up energy blast Xenmaru fired at them.

He turned to see a blur of green and white, and brought his blade up just in time to block Atoli.

The two of them became a whirl of blades and light. Atoli would swing left, and Xenmaru would block it, only to twist his blade and kick her in the stomach, just as she swung right, which he would bend backwards to avoid. She brought her left blade down, which he met with his own, only to have to roll to the side to avoid her right one. She would twist and swing her blades, and he would block, sparks raining on both of them from the ferocity of the girl's attacks.

Kuhn and the other two were stunned.

"Our best Harvest Cleric…is also one of the most skilled twin-blade user's I've ever seen…and she's not even a Multi-Weapon!"

"Maybe that's why she's so good at it. It comes from within, literally."

Xenmaru smiled at the girl.

"Feels good doesn't it?"

She glared and continued attacking. "What?!"

"The power. Finally being in control. Being strong enough to not be a burden. Feels good…right?"

The two broke their attacks. Atoli was panting, while Xenmaru wasn't even breathing heavily.

She nodded at him, signifying she agreed with his statement. The power DID feel good…and it felt so…right. The confidence she had when she was using her Avatar's power…completely overwrote the meekness her parents had instilled upon her. He smiled at her again, and then vanished. No ripple. He was there one second, and gone the next.

She barely had time to gasp before a fist implanted itself in her stomach. All she saw was a blur.

Flashes of light would appear in everyone's vision with each attack the seemingly invisible Xenmaru made upon Atoli. Suddenly he re-appeared in front of her, blade held in front of him, next to his head. His left hand was pointed, palm up towards her. His right leg was bent, and his left was extended in front of him. He pulled his blade back, and vanished again. All they saw was a blur slam into Atoli, and flashes of light with each strike he made.

Suddenly a ring of glowing blue broadswords appeared surrounding the blur, their rotation also causing a great deal of damage to Atoli. The swords vanished for a moment and re-appeared surrounding the girl. He made one final strike, and vanished again, appearing behind her, with his blade to the side, as if he had just made a great swing. The swords continued spinning, and then stopped. They all slammed into her, and then exploded sending a wave of energy out from her.

Xenmaru stood as Atoli fell to the ground, groaning.

He stepped over to her, crouched next to her head, and smiled.

"Practice Atoli. Take Innis' confidence in you, and put it towards yourself. You're a strong girl, now just show the world."

He stood and faced Haseo. The two stared each other down, neither one making a move.

However, before either of them could, a wave of force came from the side, and slammed into the group.

_Looks like time is up…_

* * *

The two groups gathered, with Morgana, Zefie, and Natsume racing up to them.

"What the HELL is going on?!"

Xenmaru turned to the glowing ball in the sky.

"Looks like it's done regenerating."

"What?!"

"I said-

"We know what you said. We just don't understand what you mean by it."

"The AIDA, while we were fighting, was healing itself. And, knowing insanely powerful beings, was probably getting stronger."

The ball flared with light, and then slammed into the ground. When the light cleared even Xenmaru was surprised.

The creature was no longer a Kitsune. It now had three lupine heads, a lion's body, nine snake headed tails, and a pair of gigantic eagle wings.

"...Holy Bitching Shit Fuckers…"

The group blinked and looked at Xenmaru, whose mouth was open wide in shock. He blinked, and shook his head.

"Seriously…whoever makes these things has GOT to cut back on the drugs…"

Aina giggled at that. The beast however didn't find it so funny. All three heads roared at them, which caused the area to shake.

A glowing light appeared in all three heads.

They fired small beams, which converged into a giant orb that fired a larger beam.

"Oh…SHIIIIII-

**Ding…**

A bright white light appeared in front of the beam. The attack was blocked.

(Play .hack GU: The Hope of Dawn)

When the light faded…Xenmaru smiled…as the others gasped.

"M-Mommy?"

Aura…the child of light…was floating in front of them. Her dress was the same, if a bit less…floaty. Her eyes were the same bright blue, and her hair was the same brilliant white…however it had a slight…purple tint to it.

She floated down to the group, smiling at them.

"It's about bloody fucking time you showed up woman! That thing was about to fry our asses!"

She smiled brightly at him. "Many apologies Shinzaki-sama…I don't think any of us knew how long it would take…"

He huffed. "No…we didn't. That's why Aina and I bought you some time…unfortunately we seem to have bought _them _time as well."

"Yes…the AIDA have converged into their ultimate form…though it looks…rather unpleasant."

Everyone was stunned. Zefie ran up to Aura and hugged her. "Mommy! You're alive!"

She held her daughter and smiled. "Of course…but it's all because of Xenmaru-sama."

"I think I speak for everyone present when I ask what the HELL are you talking about?"

"I was split in two. I was incomplete. Alicia was my shadow, my other half. Without her I was weakened. Which is how the AIDA appeared in the first place…however once she awoke they returned. Because of our separation, this world was in peril, as was yours. Xenmaru…took care of Alicia. He talked with her, learned from her, and she from him. He restored her love for The World. She still resented Morgana, and to an extent Tsukasa-sama, but she knew…what she had to do. I was completely unaware that a shadow of myself existed. But when she grabbed me, after protect breaking me, I thought her program had failed, I thought she was going to have me killed, and take out the rest of The World with me…but she had Xenmaru-sama use Data Drain…to separate our data again, for it to reconfigure back into one being."

"So…because of him…you're…whole?"

"Yes."

"Why him? Why not Haseo? Or any one of us?"

Xenmaru cut in. "Because other than Aina, who met Alicia today, none of you would have been suitable for the job. Alicia met with me, and trusted me, and I her. She may have been able to convince Aura of what needed to be done, but the rest of you would have gotten in the way. By doing it the way we did, not only did Alicia get her revenge by causing Aura pain, but she fulfilled what she knew she needed to do."

"I still don't get why it couldn't have been one of us."

"Because you'd have hesitated. Not only that but you didn't have my connection with Alicia. She had told me of her ideas from the very start. So I knew what she was planning…though I'd hoped we wouldn't have to…"

Aura looked at him sadly. She walked over to him as he turned away from the group.

_Damn girl…why the hell did I have to get involved with this shit…_

She surprised everyone, him included when she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him.

"She's not as gone as you think."

He didn't even look at her. "I know. She's there, in you, but mixed in. Like sugar in tea. Problem is, I like to be able to taste the sugar dammit."

She smiled sadly.

"You might be able to. But first…we have to get rid of that thing."

"Yeah, yeah…honestly…I wish I was still alive so I could demand some serious payment for this crap…"

He turned his head. "I'm still gonna kick your ass for that by the way."

Surprisingly, Morgana smiled.

"If we survive, go ahead."

He scowled but nodded.

"Alright…so how the hell are we gonna fight this thing."

"Only three people will fight it."

Everyone looked at Aura. "Skeith, Cubia, and Myself."

Haseo leveled his gaze on the girl. "Uhh…Aura…we can't summon our avatars…remember?"

She smiled at him cheekily while Xenmaru shook his head.

"I happen to be fully complete now…Captain Grey."

Xenmaru burst out laughing. "Oh damn do I wish I was taking a drink right now! That spit-take would have been awesome!"

"Did she just…"

"Call you Captain Grey? Yes."

Aura smiled. Xenmaru sobered up and looked at her.

"Not as gone as I think huh?"

She looked at him. Staring right into his eyes.

"Nowhere near it."

He smiled slightly. "Good. Now…what say we kill this bad lab experiment."

She smiled back. "I say lets."

Aura began to glow, and domes of energy surrounded the Infinity Eight, and Xenmaru. The domes shattered, and they all felt it.

"So that's what it feels like…"

"Everyone ready?"

The others nodded. Aina, Zefie, Morgana, and Natsume all stepped back.

"Good luck Mommy!"

"Kick its ass Aura."

"Onii-chan! Ganbatte!"

"Good luck Xenmaru."

The group stared at the monster, who roared in defiance.

"Well then…lets get this show on the road!"

* * *

Seventeen frikkin pages. You people better be happy…

Wolfy: read. READ DAMN YOU READ!!!1111!!!

Yamimaru: In a sense, yes. They won't gain Xth forms, or anything near it, but once in a while, if they can't fully use their avatars, they can call upon some of their respective Phases' abilities.

PirateCaptainBo: One more chapter…and then it's over. I wonder if it'll be as long…

One chapter to go. The next one is the last one…unless I make an epilogue chapter or something. The fight's almost over…and the ending…hopefully will surprise everyone…


	13. For The World

**The Red Wand**

**Chapter XII: For The World**

(Play Wild Arms The Best –rocking heart- Battle VS Lord Blazer)

The group stared at the hideous creature. Aura glowed a fierce white light. The Infinity Eight nodded to one another.

All of them focused on their avatars.

"Ike! Corbenik!"

"Tarvos!"

"Macha!"

"_**Gorre!"**_

"Fidchell!"

"Ore no Magus!"

"Innis!"

It was down to Haseo. He focused on the thoughts of his friends, of The World…

"Koi…Koi! Ore wa…koko ni iru…**SKEIIIIIIITH!"**

The ring of light surrounded Haseo, whose form changed into the glowing white, hulking beast of a creature. Humanoid in shape, with eight glowing yellow energy blades floating behind its back.

Xenmaru watched, with a look akin to jealousy on his face. **What's wrong? **_Nothing…just not fair is all. _**Oh come on, we could take him! **_Not that…look at him…he's got all those friends…I've got two AI. It's just…irritating. _**Well…we're up. You can kick his ass for being lucky later. **_Yeah…later._

With a clouded mind…Xenmaru focused his thoughts on the link between him and Cubia. _This might not work y'know. That thing might be able to beat us. _**It's worth a shot. Besides, don't you humans fight the best when you have something to protect? You don't exactly have a life anymore…but there are countless lives that are tied to this world. **_Yeah…if anything…it'll be for them…thanks Miko. _**That's what friends are for…right? **_Yeah._

"Mezame…CUBIA!"

A ring of light enveloped him as well…and when it shattered, the draconic form of The Hidden One, Cubia, was present.

Aura glowed brighter, as the three of them floated into the air, and shot towards the monster.

The beast flapped its wings, and a torrent of razor sharp feathers flew at the three. They split, Aura going up, Skeith going left and Cubia going right. Aura shot down towards the beast with blinding speed. It tried to put up a barrier, but she cut straight through it. There was a small flash of light as she made impact, and the beast roared in pain. However, to thwart the coming attack from Haseo, all three heads fired small, but potent beams of energy out of their mouths, catching him in the blasts. The beams were continuous…or would have been had Cubia not appeared beneath the beast, and punched it in the sky.

"**Legion's Reach."**

Cubia flapped its wings hard, and waves of small branching red blasts flew into the creature. The creature flapped its own wings, and the torrent of feathers blocked most of the energy blasts. However, that left it open for an attack from Haseo. Before the beast could recover, it was assaulted by several lances of energy that flew from behind Skeith. Aura then re-appeared and began pelleting the creature with small, but powerful energy spheres.

The creature put up its barrier, which blocked the attack.

Skeith zoomed past the barrier, and hacked away at the monster with his scythe. The beast roared in pain, and the snake headed tails flicked. Suddenly Haseo was bombarded with twisters of fire. Skeith flew back, and Aura once again slammed into the creature, at the same time Cubia appeared and smashed its fist into the monsters top head, both of them frustrated.

"Stop…"

Aura crashed into its left head.

"Not…"

Cubia roared, sending a sonic blast into the monster's side, knocking it away.

"_**DYING!**_**"**

Aura and Xenmaru yelled at the same time, as Haseo charged in again, swinging wildly, causing massive damage to the creature. It repelled them all with a barrier that snapped into place out of nowhere, and then fired a beam of energy at Cubia. Aura flickered into view in front of him, and slashed her arm to the side. Her own barrier snapped into place, protecting both of them.

"Nice trick."

"Thanks…I've been replaying some of the memories you shared with Alicia…you'll have to explain to me how some of those moves work…"

From within Cubia, Xenmaru smiled. "When we beat this thing, I will."

"It's a date then."

The creature fired another beam, this time at Skeith. Aura vanished, and appeared in front of him, blocking that attack as well.

_We have to finish this…_

"Aura! Haseo! Cover me!"

Immediately, Aura knew what Xenmaru was planning. She nodded, and fell back to a defensive position. Haseo charged in, firing blast after blast, keeping the beast distracted. Every time it would fire a potentially fatal attack at either one of them, Aura would step in, and block it.

The kite like object on Cubia's back began glowing. 'Tails' like on its lower half began appearing on its top. It began spinning.

Aura slammed into the monster, shattering its barrier. Skeith rushed in and slashed wildly.

Energy gathered towards Cubia's mouth. The cross became a glowing disk.

The monster roared at the two of them, unaware of what was coming.

A glowing light appeared in Cubia's mouth. Its head rose.

**Armageddon**

Aura slammed into the beast one final time, and then dashed away. The beast turned, only to see a huge beam of energy come tearing at it. It was about to put up its barrier, when a wave of energy slammed into its heads, courtesy of Haseo. The energy beam engulfed the monster, causing a huge explosion.

They floated down to the ground.

"Is it dead?"

"I…think so…"

For a few moments…nothing happened. The dust cleared, and nothing was there.

"We won."

"WE DID IT!"

Haseo and Aura celebrated.

Xenmaru wasn't convinced. _That was too easy._

He was right.

A wave of force came from nowhere. The sheer power behind it was enough to knock Haseo and Xenmaru out of their avatar forms. This had the added effect of knocking the rest of the infinity eight back into existence, and flat on their backs.

The creature reformed, and roared in annoyance.

_**Foolish Beings. Why do you fight your destiny of destruction?**_

"We choose our own destiny! A virus like you wouldn't understand the meaning of anything but destruction!"

_**I need not understand. I need only destroy, for that is my purpose.**_

Kuhn was going to retort, but Xenmaru spoke before he could.

"No."

Everyone, even the snake headed tails on the creature, turned to the young man.

"That is merely what you were created to do. You're nothing but a program. Evolved, yes. Self-aware, yes. But you're still a program. You cannot ignore the 'destiny' you yourself have been given…simply because you _cannot _fathom that you have a choice. That you can be _given _a choice. A virus is nothing more than a patch of data, twisted to form a malicious action…but rewrite that data, replace a zero with a one, and add in a few more pieces of code, and that virus becomes a vaccine. Morgana, became self-aware, and was filled with fear at her death. She corrupted herself, her programming, and the one she was meant to create, all because of her selfishness. And because of that, she created you as well."

Everyone was stunned, even Mikoto, who was living in the 'mind' of Xenmaru.

**Xen…**

"I cannot speak for the others, for their reasons are their own…but I fight not for humans, or children, or life or even myself. I fight for The World. The World and all those who call it home. The creations of humans that exist for one purpose, and then become discarded, the AI, the Programs that have called this place sanctuary. Sanctuary from their foolish, selfish human creators, that made them for one purpose, and then discarded them. For those that made them just to be objects to use, to control, and ignore as they saw fit. The World…where all are welcome. You would be included as well…if your very existence didn't threaten the fabric of this reality. If your existence, your very presence did not corrupt, destroy, and distort the world that surrounds you, you would be more than welcome…but it does. And that means we must destroy you, so those that live here can be in peace."

Xenmaru started charging an attack.

"I didn't want this life. I didn't want to die so early, I had plans, dreams…wishes. But I was killed. Killed by an ignorant program that became self-aware like a human, a program that acted like a human, not caring of anything but itself, even if for only a moment. And I was trapped here, my mind turned to data, my body destroyed from my mind vanishing. To this day, I cannot get used to this form. My mind is that of a human dammit! I want to eat again! I want to be able to sleep! Hell I wanna have a god damn stomach ache so I can take a shit again! I want to be human! I want to live a human life! But I can't. This body doesn't allow for it, this WORLD doesn't allow for it. I can still feel pain; I can still feel the cold and heat. Hell I can still get dust in my eye for crying out loud! But Aura can do that to, hell so can most of the AI in this world. Fuck I'd love to see Aura become human! She'd have a hard time adjusting to human life, just as I'm having problems being data! She'd have to get used to eating, sleeping, bathing, all sorts of things that programs don't need to do! Hell I'd LOVE to see that bitch on her period! (Here Aura blushed.) Would she be the bitchy type? Would she be even quieter? Or would she be the wild hormone driven type? Hell, fuck that, I'd like to see her in the fucking SACK! (Now Aura's face turned beet red. Some of the other men started chuckling.) But that won't happen…for her or for me…because I'm stuck here…"

Two orbs of light appeared in his hands.

"But hell…if I'm stuck here…that makes this place my home…and you know what?"

The light became nearly blinding.

"If this is my home…then I'm sure as hell not going to let you take it away from me."

(Play Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: His World –Crush 40 Version-)

He slammed his hands together, and a huge beam of light shot from them, crashing into the monster's heads.

The monster roared and pawed its eyes.

A wave of force emanated from him, surprising all present. Energy flew off of him in waves.

**You're not gonna…**_It's the only thing I can do. That thing started it all, and it will finish it. _**But…you'll…**_I know…I'll miss you too. But hey…it's for the best._

"What the hell…how is this possible?"

Aura stared in amazement. "Because he's the Shinigami…"

A glowing red staff appeared in his hands. He flipped it over and grabbed it from the tip, the rounded part with the cross. He then vanished. No ripple, no sound, just there one moment, and gone the next. He brought the staff down on the creature's left head, dodging its right as it bit at him, and slamming down on the middle. He flipped off the nose of the middle, and spun, slashing both other heads. The monster brought its paw down on him, only for him to vanish, and a series of slices to suddenly appear racing up its leg.

The beast roared again, as Xenmaru re-appeared on its back. He dodged the balls of fire, gales of wind, and torrents of water. He jumped off the creatures back, and stabbed his weapon into its side, creating a huge black gash as he slid down. He then used the staff as a spring-board to propel himself towards the creature's hind-quarters. He twisted himself past another fireball, and used that movement to send himself below the beast, where he summoned his staff and slammed it into the creatures hide again, swinging underneath it, and over to the other side like a gymnast.

"My gods…why didn't he do this before?"

"I don't think he could…look at him…he's using everything he has to do this…"

"But how? Human data or not, he's still in the form of a normal character…how is he dealing so much damage?!"

"Because he's the Shinigami. Much like Tsukasa was chosen by Morgana, and Kite was chosen by myself…He was chosen by Cubia, the last defense of The World itself. Like Haseo was marked by Skeith, and Endrance was marked by Macha…he has a connection to this world that goes beyond all logic. When he first logged in, he used an Edge Punisher's weapon against her…something that shouldn't have been possible. He's always had a powerful link to this world…one strong enough to defeat an AIDA without data draining it, both in, and out of avatar form. Where Haseo holds the Xth form from his endeavors as Skeith…he holds the form of Sword Master…a warrior of honor and grace…master of blades of all forms. Of course I plan on making his class an official class after all this…"

"Wouldn't that…diminish his efforts?"

"Not really…he's the only one that can use that staff after all…"

"Good point."

Xenmaru raced along the monsters back, to the nine snake headed tails. Each one used its own method of attacking. Some bit, some launched fire, others wind, or water, or lightning, or darkness, or rays of light. He evaded and countered them all, slicing through each one in return. The heads dropped either to the ground, or to its back, the necks spraying a black, fluid like substance. He ran back along, tossing a few waves of black flame onto the fluids, and also burning some parts of the creature. He ran to where the wings were, and dashed up one, slicing off each feather till he reached half way, and then made one big swing, creating a crescent blade of energy that ripped off the rest of the wing, the black fluid spraying everywhere again.

"My word…he's so…elegant…"

"Don't tell me you're gonna go after him now Endrance."

"Lords no…nobody could ever compare to you Haseo."

"Right…" _DAMMIT!_

"Zefie…do you still think he's a burden?"

"I'd like to go back in time and smack myself for that Morgana…I really would."

"HELL YEAH! KICK SOME ASS XENMARU! DON'T YOU DARE LOSE CAUSE I STILL GOTTA BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU FOR DEFEATING ME ALL THOSE TIMES!"

Everyone present sweat-dropped.

"So he beat you too, huh Natsume?"

"Five freaking times! The last time I didn't even land a hit on him!"

"Damn…and it took me a bit to beat you…and I only did it once…"

The young man raced along the ground, evading the enraged stomps of the monster before him. He leapt into the air, slicing through its other leg, and slashing it, cutting it off at the top, causing the monster to topple over. He then spun like a saw, and cut through the right head.

"It's done! He's gonna win!"

He cut through the left one, splitting it in two, right down the middle.

"Its over! That thing's beat!"

Xenmaru hopped away from it.

_This is it…I've got only one shot…if I don't do it now…it'll just regenerate. _**Zero…**_It's the only way Miko…it's my only chance. _**But…to do such a thing! **_You know I wont go that easily. Besides…_they_ are still present. They can be used…_**I'll miss you…**_and I you. But we'll see each other again soon._

Aura frowned. "He's hesitating…wait…no…he can't be!"

Morgana's eyes widened. "He wouldn't…"

Zefie stared. "He would…"

He spoke.

"Not as gone as I thought huh?"

Aura had tears in her eyes…she knew what he was going to do. "Nowhere near it."

"Good. Payback's a bitch."

He flipped the staff upright. He began to glow, and raise into the air. The last remaining head stared in fear.

_**No…what are you doing?!**_

"Finishing you off…for good."

He rocketed towards the monster's last remaining head.

_**NO!**_

The staff tip slammed into its forehead, right between the eyes. Xenmaru twisted the staff as if he were turning a key. A brilliant silver light shot from the very center of the staff's cross. There was an explosion…

And everyone's vision went white.

* * *

The end. It's done. It's over. There will be an epilogue. I did this on purpose, the ending is unfufiling, I know. This was intentional. The epilogue…will surprise all of you…and leave you wanting a sequel. Yes, a sequel is planned, more on that in the epilogue.

Yamimaru: The whip signifies Macha's femininity. Not to mention we all KNOW that if a whip were a usable weapon, Endrance would have picked that instead. If you noticed, the whip sent out energy waves much like the ones Avatar Macha's claws did.

Rainfire: Oh you wont have to worry about Xenmaru for a loooong time after this…yeah, I always did have a flair for picking the right music for the moments. It's how I write. If a segment of the chapter has a song that needs to be played, I play it, and loop it.

Wolfy: Plushy received. Aina's color's inversed because of the three orbs, a fragment of Alicia, a fragment of Xenmaru, and a fragment of Cubia, all fused with her. Sucks that you have a time limit for the internet. But it takes less than that long to read one of my chapters so…

PirateCaptainBo: Xenmaru was under orders to Data Drain Aura and Alicia from Alicia herself. Since she's the other half of Aura, and Aura is basically the Goddess of The World, she's higher up in the corporate chain than CC Corp is. Because if Aura decides she's tired of The World, there ain't SHIT stopping her from wiping it out. You actually got Yata's and Ovan's nicknames reversed. Ovan was Shine-Specs and Yata was The Mask. Ovan got his name from the numerous times during the games that his glasses would reflect glare, even in dark areas. Yata got his name from his Avatar, which has a fuckload of masks.

Well, this is the last real chapter. The epilogue is just that, an epilogue, it will be short, and confusing. And it will leave you wanting more. I hope you all enjoyed this, cause I had fun writing it…and as stated above, yes, a sequel is planned, but not for a while. I might post the first chapter sometime in the near future, but don't expect it to be updated for a while. I'll probably focus on it once Vol 3 hits US stores.


	14. Epilogue

**The Red Wand**

**Epilogue**

"…and that's it."

The group of five PC's in front of the blonde haired teenager looking AI blinked.

A female Harvest Cleric with silver hair spoke. "That's all? What happened after it was killed? What happened to that guy?"

"Vanished. When the light faded, we were back in the original area. About a week later, maybe a day before you all showed up, Aura found an area…this area."

She stood up from the grass she was sitting in, and motioned for the group to do the same. They followed her past a group of trees, into a large clearing, filled with multiple beautiful flowers, butterflies, and a strange ethereal glow. However, what was the biggest surprise was a gigantic stone slab in the center of all of it.

"This…we think…is the Key to bringing him back…something Aura wishes dearly."

"What is it?"

"Dunno. None of us do."

She pointed to a symbol at the top of the slab. The symbol was made of one circle, and seven triangle shapes. The center of the symbol looked much like a hazard sign, while three other triangles, one above the center, one just outside the circle below the left most tip of the sign, and another just outside under the right most tip.

"All we know, is that, is what'll help us get him back."

"What is it?"

"Again, I don't know. This whole area came out of nowhere, it just…appeared. I didn't make it, Morgana didn't make it, and Aura didn't make it. CC Corp doesn't even know the place exists, because it's an area just outside of the borders of the game."

A bluish-green haired young man inquired. "Then how did _we _get here Zefie?"

"Aura sent me to bring you guys here. She said it would only be fair for you to be caught up to the events of The World."

"That's right."

(Play Sonic 3 Breaking the Ice OC Remix)

In a blaze of brilliant light, Aura, and a blue-green haired little girl appeared.

"After all, three of you are the Heroes of The World, one of you posed as my surrogate mother, and the last…was the key to my awakening."

The whole group smiled.

"Aura!"

"Aina…why are you here?"

"Aura-nee-chan and I were out looking for information. We showed a few players the symbol on the rock, to see if they knew what it was."

"We came across something quite interesting. But I'll explain that in a few moments…we're waiting for-

"HEY!"

Approaching from the entrance, the Infinity Eight greeted the group.

As they arrived, a distortion formed, and Morgana stepped out. She nodded to Aura and sat down. Aura motioned for the others to sit, a white haired Blade Brandier taking a moment to gawk at Pai's cleavage in surprise, before being yanked down by the brown haired man next to him.

"Good, now we're all here."

Yata spoke first. "I take it you have information?"

Aura nodded. "Yes. Aina and I found one person…ONLY one person, who recognized the symbol."

Saku blurted out. "You mean someone actually knew what the hell that thing is?!"

"Yes."

"So tell us, what is it?"

Aina spoke up.

"It belonged to Zero-nii-chan."

The group blinked as one. Kuhn spoke up next. "I think I speak for everyone present when I say, 'Huh?!'"

Aura smiled sadly. "The symbol was a creation of Zero Shinzaki…better known in The World as Shinigami Xenmaru."

Looks of astonishment were all around. "It gets better."

"There's more?"

"The symbol means 'Chaos'."

Endrance mused. "That…can't be good for us."

"Actually there was a reason behind it."

"What is it?"

"Zero-nii had split personalities when he was younger."

Another round of confused looks. Haseo shook his head. "I don't get it."

Aura clarified. "Much like Saku is a creation of Bo's, Zero Shinzaki had, at one point, also created multiple persona for a specific use. However, unlike Bo, his never took over his body to act out their own will."

Ovan puzzled over what that could mean. "Keep going…"

"Zero used those personalities as an anchor. He lost his family at a young age, and then created a new one in his mind. Six people, three male, three female. He gave them personalities, histories, even special abilities…but the trick to them was that he used them as buffers for his own thoughts. Instead of them being tangible persona, he used them as reflecting points. He'd muse over a situation, or problem, and then he'd gain _seven _different ways of seeing it. Needless to say, it allowed him to excel at many forms of strategy, and games and even logical works."

The blue haired woman that was with the first five spoke. "But what does that have to do with the symbol?"

"He made the symbol to be a form of Family Crest. An insignia all his own. He labeled it the 'Crest of Chaos', due to his mental state. He was aware of their existence, and their purpose. The symbol was made of seven pieces, each one representing one of the seven minds he had within him. He even gave the mindsets Elemental Affinities. Seven in total. Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Darkness and Light. The seventh was an unknown power that was never given an accurate enough name. It ranged from Temporal manipulation, to reality distortion, to mastery over all forms of elements…it was the ultimate power, held in check by the balanced states of the other six."

"In other words…Chaos itself."

"Exactly."

Atoli spoke. "What does this have to do with the rock?"

Aina stood up, and held her arms out to the sides, and closed her eyes. A glowing light surrounded her, and then condensed in front of her into a diamond shaped crystal. The crystal was colored silver, and had a small pulsing light within it. It floated in front of her, shimmering.

"What…the hell is that?"

"And what was it doing within my sister?"

"If what the PC said was right…and the knowledge I have of Xenmaru from Alicia is correct…this…is a fragment of Xenmaru."

The gem glowed, as did the center triangle on the stone.

"Looks like I was right."

The gem faded back into Aina, and she opened her eyes. Aura continued.

"It would seem, that at the end of the battle, Xenmaru didn't die…he fragmented, much like I did when I was Data Drained by Skeith. Perhaps it was subconscious, or maybe he intended it…or maybe he's just a copycat."

The group snapped their gazes to Aura when she said this.

"All I know is that somewhere out there in The World, there are Six other gems like the one Aina has…and I'm sure if we brought all seven together to this rock…we'd get Xenmaru back."

Aina looked to the side…away from everyone. She turned and stepped away slightly.

"It…won't be that easy."

Aura looked at her, as did the others, confusion on their faces. Aina spoke…but not once did she turn.

"He didn't call them his Family…he called them his Guardians. They kept him sane, they kept him going when he had nothing…they protected him. The crystals…even if we were to locate them…we would have to fight the Guardian protecting it. It's like with Cubia. It's a failsafe. We would have to fight enemies…that are at least a seventh of his power…and you all saw what he was like when he went all out. These things wouldn't hesitate to destroy any of us…and knowing the nature of it, they'd probably be able to do damage to our Physical Selves."

"How do you…"

She glowed, and purple symbols covered her body.

The infinity eight, Aura, Zefie, and Morgana gasped. Ovan wasn't as surprised.

"Cubia…chose you didn't it?"

Aina turned and nodded. "Mikoto-san…she…she said Xenmaru would have wanted her to join me…to help me find the pieces. She said that it would take a lot of strength, both mental and physical to beat his Guardians. Tactics, knowledge…and luck. They won't know who we are, since the last time they were active, he was sixteen. To them, we'll be threats…and they'll stop at nothing to remove us as long as we seek their charges."

"We have to try though…for him…"

"Yes…he's probably bored out of his mind…if he's even conscious."

"Alright then…we know what to do now. Haseo, you've got the largest member pool of all of us. Contact your allies; send them an image of that symbol, and the gem. Tell them to keep an eye out for anything that looks like either of those, and if they find it, to not do anything, and message you immediately. Let them know this is a Quest issued by me personally."

He nodded.

"Everyone…your lives are your own. I have to do this…but you guys don't. Whenever you're free to help, go ahead, but please, don't push yourselves trying to help me. The three of us can take care of this matter practically ourselves…"

"We know Aura. We'll help when we can."

"Us too!"

"Yes…about that…"

She walked towards three of the five that showed up first. She motioned for them to follow her.

"I think it's time your characters returned to normal…or at least…the R:2 equivalent."

A ringing noise sounded through the area, and three glowing blue orbs appeared. The orbs exploded, one in blue flames, one in blue feathers, and one in a torrent of crystal blue water. The three gaped at the forms. Aura nodded at the zombie like beings, and they strode forward. Before the three could react, the beings had literally phased into their bodies. The three glowed…and when the light faded…they took the forms of the three creatures that had walked into them.

"The three of you deserve to keep your titles after all. You can warp to any area, from anywhere, just by punching in the words. No Chaos Gate needed. Any party members you have will be warped along with you."

"What…?"

"Welcome back…Orca of the Azure Sea, Balmung of the Azure Sky…and Kite of the Azure Flame."

The Azure Knights…had returned to The World.

"Kite, you have the bracelet again. No infection possibilities this time. Also, you have a pseudo-avatar form. It's called Azure Flame God. If I hadn't been rushing when I created those three, I'd have made forms for all of you…but for now, Kite will be your powerhouse."

The three stared at Aura.

"This…I never expected to see this character again…"

"Yeah…even if it does look a bit…frayed."

Aura blushed. "Sorry…like I said, I was rushing when I put them together…so they kinda look like Zombies…but hey, it matches the tone of R:2!"

"Yeah…it does."

Zefie and Morgana stood, as did the rest of the group.

"Tsukasa, Subaru, I'm glad to see the two of you again."

"It's good to know you're alright."

The three smiled at each other.

"Oh yeah, just so I don't forget…what were the area words to this place again?"

"**Theta Server: Restoring Lovers Dream."**

* * *

And this is it. Just as confusing as I wanted it to be. Yep, the Azure Knights have returned, as have Tsukasa and Subaru. Aina is now the holder of Avatar Cubia, and you learn more of Xenmaru's past, before he died and became locked within The World. It's been a wild ride, and I've already planned out the Sequel. I have Character Names picked already, along with their descriptions…but Area ideas are coming up short…

TheAzureDolphin: It would seem that way wouldn't it? Xenmaru's power is on par with that of Aura…only due to his circumstances. He's a human spirit trapped within the internet basically. Even as a normal human he was able to fathom and imagine possibilities most people wouldn't even begin to think of…which was reflected on by his connection with The World. The staff just gave him a boost. The Complete Aura is stronger than he is, but she's still getting used to her power. Xenmaru was quick to adjust. This chapter might feel incomplete as well…but…I plan on doing something different with the sequel…you'll see.

Yamimaru: Yeah I know…knowing my luck I'll be writing the sequel before then. And as you can see, no he's not deleted…per se. Be kinda dumb to build him up, then wipe him out suddenly ne? No, he's still around…and his TRUE power, along with Aura's, wont be seen till the near end of the sequel. Yep, the next fic is gonna focus on Aura, her growth, and her interactions with others.

I know many will have questions. I anticipate, and welcome them all. I'll answer whatever you ask to the best of my ability. You want background information for certain characters? Fine by me. You want ability comparisons? Go ahead and ask. If you've got an account, PM me, if not, my e-mail's in my profile, as should be my AIM name…if not I'll put it there. You've got questions? I've got launchers ready to destroy them with answers. Have a good rest of the summer everyone! See you next mission!


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